North Korea fires hundreds of artillery shells near border with South Korea

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's military exercise during a news programme at the Seoul Railway Station. Photo / Ahn Young-joon, AP

South Korea says North Korea has fired artillery shells near the rivals’ sea border in its latest weapons test.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says North Korea fired about 100 shells off its west coast and 150 rounds off its east coast on Tuesday night.

It says the shells fell inside maritime buffer zones the two Koreas established under a 2018 inter-Korean agreement on reducing tensions.

In recent weeks, North Korea has conducted a spate of missile and artillery launches in what some experts call an attempt to expand its weapons arsenal and boost its leverage in future negotiations with its rivals.

Earlier this month, North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years. Japan was forced to issue evacuation notices and suspend trains during the flight of the nuclear-capable weapon that could reach the US territory of Guam and possibly beyond.

The missile’s estimated 4500km flight was the longest by any North Korean missile, though the North has previously launched other potentially longer-range weapons at high angles to avoid neighbouring countries.

North Korea is believed to be ramping up missile tests to build a full-fledged nuclear arsenal that viably threatens US allies and the American homeland with the goal of wresting outside concessions, some experts say.