The South Korean army conducted a nighttime firing exercise in the border county of Goseong earlier this week, in efforts to bolster readiness against potential North Korean provocations, Yonhap News Agency reported.

About 300 troops from the Army's Third Corps took part in the exercise conducted Wednesday and Thursday in the coastal county of Goseong, some 160 kilometers northeast of Seoul, according to the Army.

It marked the first time that the Army has conducted such drills in a maritime buffer zone near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) since July last year.

The previous exercise took place a month after South Korea fully suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement in June, in the wake of North Korea's trash balloon campaigns and attempts to disrupt GPS signals near border islands.

The suspension enabled South Korea to resume drills to bolster front-line defenses. Previously, artillery and naval drills, as well as regiment-level field maneuvers, were banned due to land and maritime buffer zones set up in the area. No-fly zones had also been designated near the border to prevent accidental aircraft clashes.

This week's drills mobilized some 40 pieces of key equipment, including the K9A1 self-propelled howitzer, the Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher and surveillance equipment, such as a counter-battery radar and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), it added.

In the exercise, troops detected a simulated enemy provocation using the radar and fired in response. They then confirmed the outcome using a UAV and fired again in a show of swift firepower.

Some 600 rounds splashed into waters south of the NLL in the East Sea, an army official said.

"The Army will strive to establish a military readiness posture to respond overwhelmingly to any enemy provocation through practical education and training at combat sites," it said.

The South Korean army said safety guidelines were shared with the local community prior to the exercise and implemented during the drills in cooperation with the Coast Guard.