NKorea Conducts Live-Fire Drills Near SKorea Islands

North Korea has again escalated tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Friday by firing nearly 200 rounds of live ammunition off its southwest coast.

The artillery was fired from Jangsan Cape and Deungsan Cape in the North's southwestern coastal areas, and continued for two hours starting from 9 a.m. local time, the The Korea Times reported. The shells landed in the maritime buffer zone north of the Northern Limit Line, a border in the West Sea that was established under a 2018 military agreement between the countries.

In November, North Korea unilaterally scrapped the military accord after South Korea partially suspended it in protest of Pyongyang's successful launch of a military spy satellite, the Times reported.

There were no reports of casualties, but civilians on South Korea's western border islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeongdo were ordered to evacuate to shelters. In response, South Korea's military conducted live-fire drills on the northwestern border islands in the West Sea later in the day, the Times reported.

"We gravely warn that the entire responsibility of such crisis escalation lies with North Korea and strongly call for its immediate halt," Col. Lee Sung-jun, a spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. "Under close coordination between South Korea and the United States, our military is tracking and monitoring related activity, and will conduct corresponding measures to North Korea's provocations."

The North Korean-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday the "naval live-shell firing drill" was split into five districts, with a total of 192 artillery shells fired by 47 cannons of various caliber from 13 companies and one platoon force.

The KCNA reported the general staff of the Korean People's Army said the artillery didn't "give even an indirect effect on" the South Korean islands.

The drills came a day after reports emerged that Russia plans to use ballistic missiles sourced from North Korea in its war with Ukraine. Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, posted Friday on X, formerly Twitter, the country already has been hit by Russian missiles that were obtained from North Korea.

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