South Korea was planning to hold live-ammunition artillery drills along the islands near the disputed maritime border, military officials were quoted as saying Friday by Yonhap News Agency.
Seoul has pledged to toughen its stance against North Korea following the shelling of an island on November 23, in which two South Korean soldiers and two civilians were killed, dpa reported.
The US Navy started week-long manoeuvres with Japan's Self-Defense Force on Friday, a day after concluding four days of maritime drills with the South Korean navy.