(CNN) -- A day after raising the
possibility of further nuclear tests,
North Korea has engaged in
provocative live-fire exercises near
the South Korean maritime border,
leading to an exchange of fire
between the two neighbors.
Semi-official South Korean news
agency Yonhap reported Monday
that the North had begun the drill
just after noon (local time). The
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) confirmed
that some North Korean ordnance
landed in South Korean waters, and
that the South responded with fire.
The JCS confirmed that the North
Korean offshore military exercise
began around 12:15 pm (local time)
Monday, and said that "a part of
North Korea's shelling reached South
Korean side of the NLL (Northern
Limit Line) and we (South Korea)
responded with K-9 self-propelled
guns into the North Korean waters
above NLL."
The statement is in line with
Yonhap's report that the North fired
"several" artillery shells, to which
South Korean military responded
with self-propelled artillery fire. The
South Korean K-9 howitzers have a
24-mile (40-kilometer) range.
It is not clear how many of the
shells fired by North Korea reached
the Republic's territorial waters.
Although there was a lull, North
Korean offshhore firing seems to
have resumed, with Yonhap quoting
a resident of Baekryong Island,
which is in close proximity to the
NLL