N Korea fires more than 100 artillery shells near border with south 

Seoul, Dec. 5, (dpa/GNA) - North Korea launched about 130 artillery shells in the vicinity of its border with South Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported on Monday citing military officials in Seoul. 

Several of the shells landed in a maritime buffer zone, which the two countries set up in 2018 in an attempt to reduce bilateral tensions. 

Tensions have been ratcheting upwards in recent weeks due to a series of North Korean missile launches, several of which have prompted South Korean military exercises. 

The belligerent rhetoric out of Pyongyang has also heightened of late. 

Several experts say they think it is likely North Korea is preparing to conduct its first atomic missile test in more than five years. 

GNA