
North Korea fired over 60 artillery rounds on Saturday (Jan 6) near Yeonpyeong Island, said Seoul's army, a day after both the sides, North and South, conducted live-fire drills near their maritime border.
"North Korean forces conducted artillery fire with over 60 rounds" northwest of Yeonpyeong Island on Saturday afternoon, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
North Korea's shells, on Friday as well as on Saturday, landed in a buffer zone that was created under a 2018 deal aimed at reducing tensions between the two sides.
The military accord fell apart in November last year after Pyongyang launched a spy satellite.
Seoul's military said Saturday that "the repeated artillery fire within the prohibited hostile act zone by North Korea poses a threat to the peace on the Korean Peninsula and escalates tensions".
"North Korea, following its claim of the complete nullification of the 'September 19 Military Agreement', continues to threaten our citizens with ongoing artillery fire within the prohibited hostile act zone," the JCS said, referring to the 2018 deal.
"In response, our military will take appropriate measures," it said.
Pyongyang after firing more than 200 artillery shots on Friday (Jan 5) said that the live-fire exercises were a "natural response and countermeasure" to South Korean drills, condemning Seoul's claim that it had threatened peace on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea released a statement saying that its drills did "not even have any indirect impact on Baengnyeong Island and Yeonpyeong Island", where residents were told to evacuate by local authorities, according to KCNA's report.
Seoul had on Friday told civilians on Yeonpyeong Island, located about 115km east of Seoul in terms of aerial distance, to evacuate after the North fired artillery shells off its west coast.
"About 200 shots were fired by North Korea (near) Yeonpyeong Island," a defence ministry official said at a briefing.
South Korean defence ministry, condemned the fire drills calling it a "provocative act" and urged North to stop, warning Seoul would take "appropriate measures" in response.
"We gravely warn that the entire responsibility of such crisis-escalating situations lies with North Korea and strongly urge for its immediate halt," Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun said in a press conference.
"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."
(With inputs from agencies)