Rival Koreas conduct provocative drills along their tense sea boundary, escalating animosities

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The rival Koreas fired artillery rounds into the sea as part of provocative drills along their disputed sea boundary on Friday, in violation of the fragile 2018 inter-Korean military agreement.

The firing exercises are expected to escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Experts say North Korea will likely intensify a run of weapons tests and its warlike rhetoric ahead of South Korea’s parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired 200 rounds in the waters north of their western sea boundary on Friday morning. It was North Korea’s first front-line maritime firing exercise in about a year.

Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung Joon told a televised briefing that the North’s artillery firing was “an act of provocation that threatens peace and heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula.” Lee said South Korea suffered no damage.

In a tit-for-tat step, South Korea had its troops on two border islands fire artillery rounds south of the sea boundary later Friday, but North Korea’s military didn’t immediately respond. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the military will maintain a firm readiness to strongly punish any provocations by North Korea.

North Korea’s state media haven’t made any comments.

Ahead of the South Korean drills, authorities blared broadcasts via street loudspeakers and sent text messages to residents on the five major border islands, asking them to evacuate to safe places. They worried North Korea could conduct a new round of firing training in response but lifted the evacuation order a few hours later as they detected no suspicious activities by the North’s military, according to