North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire near their disputed sea border on Wednesday. This is the second time in three months the rivals have clashed.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the communist North fired artillery shots from land towards the South.

[Lee Jong-joo, South Korean Unification Ministry]:
“We have confirmed that North Korea declared a no-sail zone in the west sea waters from January 25th to March 29th. The government is keeping an eye on the North Korean army's movement, their intention and our future response to it.”

South Korea returned fire from its coastal artillery.

On Tuesday, North Korea declared a two-month no-sail zone in the Yellow Sea, a sign it might be preparing to test fire missiles.

The area is near a disputed sea border between the rival Koreas that was the site of a brief naval clash in November as well as deadly confrontations in previous years.

The latest clash also comes amid signals from Pyongyang it was ready to return to six-party talks on ending its nuclear arms program, after boycotting talks for a year.

Analysts say tightened sanctions since last year have badly hit North Korea’s failing economy.

Analysts doubt the latest clash will escalate. They see it as an attempt by Pyongyang to stress the instability on the Korean peninsula and press its demand for a peace deal that would lead to international aid for its ruined economy