South Korea fires 400 artillery shells in response to North's provocation

K9 howitzers and tanks stationed on Yeonpyeong Island participated in the exercise.

K-9 howitzer fires shells during an exercise held in Pocheon, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 2. [YONHAP]

The South Korean military fired 400 shells into waters south of the Northern Limit Line, the maritime border between the two Koreas, on Friday in response to the 200 shells fired by North Korea earlier in the day.

K9 howitzers and tanks stationed on Yeonpyeong Island participated in the exercise.

According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, the South Korean response exercise began at 3 p.m. under the command of the Northwest Islands Defense.

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and the Joint Chiefs of Staff observed the exercise, which was streamed live from the command center.

The Defense Ministry said that it raised the alert level of the South Korean military.

It also explained that the South's exercise was directed at a virtual target south of the NLL.

The South Korean military said the exercise was a response to the North Korean provocation in the buffer zone established along the NLL under the inter-Korean military agreement signed in 2018 to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The morning artillery barrage aside, the Defense Ministry said it detected no other unusual activities by the North Korean military.

"We should be prepared to retaliate with the goal of completely devastating our enemy according to the principle of taking immediate and overwhelming action so that they dare not provoke us again," Shin said. "We need to support peace through overpowering force."

North Korea warned that it will take unprecedented action if South Korea provokes referring to the South Korean military exercise held on Friday.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]