PYONGYANG, North Korea, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- North Korea is temporarily declaring parts of its maritime border with South Korea as "naval fighting zones" for live-fire drills, South Korean officials said.
North Korea notified South Korea it would conduct three-day artillery drills in four areas in the Yellow Sea and two areas in the East Sea beginning Saturday, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported Friday.
The designated regions are in North Korean waters north of the Northern Limit Line, the accepted maritime border between the two countries, Seoul's National Oceanographic Research Institute said on its Web site.
South Korea's Defense Ministry said North Korea had designated naval firing zones twice before in February, but never conducted the drills.