(VOVworld) – The Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea exchanged fires on Monday into the sea across the western maritime border known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL). The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of the RoK said their shells were in response to a number of shells fired by the DPRK which landed in its waters. Pyongyang began its live-fire drill off the west coast just hours after it had informed Seoul about the exercise and banned ships from sailing too near the NLL.

US and South Korean marines participate in a joint landing operation drill in Pohang, March 31, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

YTN TV in the RoK reported that some shells hit an island inhabited by the South Koreans off the west coast of the peninsula. But it has not been confirmed whether or not they fell on the RoK’s territory. Officials on the RoK’s Baengnyeong island had ordered civilians to evacuate to shelters.