Seoul: North Korea launched an artillery barrage into the sea off its coast on Wednesday for the second day in a row. The barrage was directed over a maritime "buffer zone" that was established in 2018 to ease tensions with the south.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is reportedly close to conducting his country's seventh nuclear test, according to Seoul and Washington, which has led Pyongyang to dramatically increase missile launches and military exercises in recent weeks.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported a "clear breach" of the 2018 agreement at around 12:30 p.m. (GMT 0330) on Wednesday when about 100 artillery shells were fired into the West Sea from South Hwanghae Province.

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“The ongoing provocation of the North threatens not only the stability of the Korean Peninsula but also the security of the entire world. The JCS issued a statement urging North Korea to immediately stop its actions.

It added that no shells fell south of the buffer zone in South Korean waters.

On Wednesday, Pyongyang claimed the most recent bombing was meant to retaliate for "military provocations" that South Korean forces had carried out along the border earlier in the day.

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According to a statement from the Korean People's Army General Staff, between 8:27 and 9:40 on Wednesday morning, "enemies fired more than 10 shells from multiple rocket launchers in the frontline zone of the frontline occupied by the 5th Army Corps. KPA "

"We must immediately put an end to the repeated military provocations of the enemy in the border areas."

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The most recent barrage was the North's second day of nonstop military provocation. On Tuesday, it fired around 250 rounds from its eastern and western coasts in the maritime security zone.

Earlier in the day, Pyongyang claimed that Tuesday's barrage was also a "powerful military retaliation" for "the enemy's combat drills against the north" on the border.

Last week, the North also fired artillery shells into the military buffer zone.