For the first time in seven years, the military has conducted live-fire artillery drills at a U.S. shooting range near the inter-Korean border.

According to the Army on Tuesday, in the drills held Monday near the Imjin River in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korean troops fired 60 shells at targets in the U.S. Story Live Fire Complex, mobilizing K9A1 and K55A1 self-propelled howitzers.

It was the first such drill since the signing of an inter-Korean military agreement on September 19, 2018.

Under the pact the two Koreas had agreed to suspend artillery drills and large-scale outdoor maneuver drills, as well as live-fire drills, within five kilometers of the Military Demarcation Line.

But South Korea suspended the deal in June last year, citing continued provocations from the North.