North Korea fired more than 200 rounds of artillery shells near the inter-Korean border on Friday, according to the South Korean military, leading the ROK to conduct artillery drills in response and triggering evacuation alerts for three border islands.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) belatedly confirmed the “live fire” activities in a press statement, after local media reported that authorities had urged residents of border islands in the Yellow Sea to evacuate to shelters.