North Korea Fires Hundreds of Rounds as South Korea Begins Defense Drills

North Korea's army shot hundreds of rounds of artillery shells toward its border with South Korea late Tuesday as a warning against South Korea's annual military drills that took place earlier in the day.

According to a report from the Associated Press (AP), South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said in a statement Wednesday that North Korea had fired about 100 shells off its west coast and 150 rounds off its east coast. South Korean officials also claimed that the military broadcast messages several times requesting for the shelling to cease.

South Korea's military also said none of the shelling landed in its territorial waters, but fell inside the buffer zone established with North Korea in 2018 under the inter-Korean agreement, reported AP.

North Korea shot off an additional 100 artillery rounds on Wednesday afternoon, according to a report from Reuters, in what it called a "grave warning" against South Korea's military training.

U.S. soldiers the same day conducted river-crossing drills with South Korean troops as part of the military defense training designed to boost South Korea's ability to respond to North Korea's nuclear threats, according to Reuters.

The artillery shelling from North Korea is only the latest incident escalating tensions between the two nations. North Korea recently launched an unknown ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan. It also flew up to 10 aircraft near the Special Reconnaissance Line, a boundary that South Korea has designated would warrant tactical response if crossed.

A spokesperson for the National Defense Ministry of South Korea told Newsweek in a statement last week that it was "keeping strong military posture on high alert" in response to North Korea's tests.

U.S. officials also condemned North Korea's missile tests last week, and said at the time in a statement shared with Newsweek that the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command "will continue consulting closely with our allies and partners to monitor the DPRK's destabilizing ballistic missile launches."

Japan has also condemned North Korea and announced on Tuesday during a regular briefing that it will impose additional sanctions in response to the missile tests, reported Reuters.

"We cannot tolerate North Korea's repeated provocative actions which threaten Japan's security and international peace and safety," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said during the briefing.

AP reported that South Korea and the U.S. are "closely monitoring" North Korea after its latest maneuvers.

Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command for comment.