North Korea launched a firing drill near the tensely patrolled western maritime border with the South for a second consecutive day on Thursday, the South Korean military said.

   The artillery drill began at around 7:10 p.m. near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), but none of the artillery rounds landed on the south side of the sea border, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

   "We are closely monitoring the North Korean military's drills, keeping a tight guard against any provocations," the JCS said.

   On Wednesday, the North's military said it will stage the firing drills any time between 3 p.m. Wednesday and midnight on Friday in its territorial waters, and commenced with the drill just hours after the announcement.

   The NLL is the de facto inter-Korean sea border in the Yellow Sea, though Pyongyang does not acknowledge it and has demanded the line be drawn farther south. After the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a ceasefire, the U.S.-led United Nations Command drew the border. (Yonhap)