ANKARA

The South Korean military claimed that North Korea fired 60 artillery shells into waters off its western coast on Saturday for the second day.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement that they detected artillery firings in the North's southwestern coastal areas for an hour this afternoon, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

Earlier on Friday, the North and South Korean militaries exchanged 800 artillery shells as tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated again.

Pyongyang fired 200 shells earlier on Friday, prompting Seoul's military to fire 600 artillery shells into their de facto maritime zone as tensions between the two countries rose.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid