Seoul: The Marine Corps announced it conducted live-fire drills on islands near the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea on Wednesday, marking the second such exercise under the Lee Jae Myung administration.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the regular exercise occurred on Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands, near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border. The drills involved K9 self-propelled howitzers that fired approximately 170 rounds into the surrounding waters. This was the third artillery drill of its kind this year, with the last one having taken place in June.

These artillery drills, traditionally conducted quarterly, were initially halted under the 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement, which prohibited all "hostile" activities between the two Koreas. However, they resumed following the decision by former conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration to suspend the military pact last year in reaction to North Korea's balloon campaigns.

Despite speculation that the military might halt live-fire exercises on the western border islands as part of efforts to improve relations with North Korea, the Marine Corps proceeded with the latest drills. President Lee Jae Myung pledged to restore the military agreement in a "proactive, gradual" manner during his Liberation Day address in August.

The waters near the NLL have historically been a point of contention between the two Koreas, with three naval skirmishes occurring in 1999, 2002, and 2009. North Korea has not accepted the NLL and has continuously demanded that it be redrawn further south.