The South Korean military carried out a live-fire exercise near the tensely guarded inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday to check and further boost its preparedness against possible provocations by North Korea, officers said.

The one-hour firing drill, which took place on the islands of Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea, "involved K-9 self-propelled howitzers and Vulcan guns, among others," a military officer said on condition of anonymity.

"More than 600 rounds were fired today in a southern direction and they all landed in our territorial waters south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL)," he said, adding that it is the military's first live-fire drill on the border islands. 

Some 20 representatives of the Military Armistice Commission under the United Nations Command visited the exercise site and monitored the drill in order to see whether it meets the stated goal of securing the readiness posture for defense purposes, another military officer said.

"The military gave residents of the island prior notice of their plan earlier in the day, and was fully prepared for an emergency, including possible provocations by North Korea during the drill," he said, adding that the military has carried out live-fire drills of this scale on a regular basis. 

Tensions remain high near the de facto inter-Korean maritime border, known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL). The North does not recognize the line, demanding it be drawn further south, making the region a flashpoint of military confrontation between the two Koreas.

In November 2010, North Korea fired some 170 rounds of artillery at the front-line island of Yeonpyeong, killing two South Korean marines and two civilians, and wounding 16 others.

The North Korean military has been carrying out firing drills as part of its winter drills since December in an "unusually intensive" way, mobilizing its self-propelled artilleries and 122-millimeter guns, according to military officers in Seoul. (Yonhap)