South Korea launches live-fire drills

Seoul: South Korea started live ammunition firing drills around its coastline Monday, as Seoul vowed to toughen its stance against its northern neighbour amid recent hostilities, a news report said.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak has faced criticism for the moderated response to the shelling of a South Korean island in November, which killed two servicemen and two civilians.

The new South Korean Defence Minister Kim Kwan Jin said the armed forces would "take strong measures so that North Korea can't dare to provoke again", the South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported.

Former four-star general Kim took office Saturday, replacing Tae Young, who resigned three days after the artillery attack following criticism from opposition and government parliamentarians.

Monday's maritime firing drills "started at 29 locations along three coasts as scheduled", an official from Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) was quoted by Yonhap as saying.

Some of the manoeuvres were to take place off islands in the Yellow Sea near the disputed maritime border, the scene of previous clashes between the Koreas' navies.

No exercises were planned near the area's island of Yeonpyeong, which was shelled by North Korean artillery Nov 23, out of consideration for the residents' safety, Yonhap said, citing a JCS source.

North Korea Sunday criticised the announced manoeuvres, and accused Seoul of being "hell-bent on the moves to escalate the confrontation and start a war".

The naval drills were scheduled to continue until Friday.