Seoul, South Korea – SKorea Begins Drills Despite NKorea Threat

Seoul, South Korea – South Korea has begun live-fire military drills from front-line islands despite North Korea’s threat to attack.

The drills Monday are happening in an area near the Koreas’ disputed sea border that was the target of a North Korean artillery attack in 2010 that killed four South Koreans.

Officials at Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff say residents on those islands were asked to go to underground shelters before the drills started.

No North Korean action has been immediately reported.

On Sunday a North Korean officer warned in an interview with The Associated Press in Pyongyang that North Koreans are always ready to “dedicate their blood to defend their inviolable territory.”