North Korea fires ballistic missile and 170 artillery rounds in barrage of overnight ‘hostile actions’

South Korea imposes sanctions in retaliation for first time in years after ‘indiscriminative’ provocations

North Korea fired a fresh round of hundreds of artillery shells on Friday after it conducted a series of military actions a day earlier, escalating tension in the Korean peninsula region.

The activities included test firing a ballistic missile, firing 170 rounds of artillery and flying warplanes close to neighbour South Korea's border.

North Korea’s latest military actions were in response to South Korea’s “provocative” 10-hour-long artillery exercise near the border, it said in a statement through its state-run Korean Central News Agency.