South Korea begins naval firing drills

South Korean troops pushed ahead with naval firing drills today, a day after North Korea warned such exercises would aggravate already high tensions between the rivals following the North’s deadly shelling last month of a frontline South Korean island.

The drills came ahead of a planned meeting by top diplomats from the United States, South Korea and Japan in Washington on the North’s recent aggressive moves, including expanding its nuclear programme in a way that could boost its atomic arsenal.