In this undated photo provided on Monday, Nov. 25, 2019, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, inspects a military unit on Changrin Islet in North Korea. Korean Central News Agency-AP

South Korea lodged a strong complaint with North Korea over its recent artillery firing drills from an inter-Korean border island in the Yellow Sea, the defense ministry said Tuesday.

Confirming that the communist country carried out artillery firing drills on Changrin Islet just north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL) on Saturday, ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo said that the South sent a protest message to the North earlier in the day via the inter-Korean military communication line.

The military authorities also made a verbal protest over the case, she added.

According to the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gave the firing order during a visit to a military unit on the islet in the Yellow Sea. KCNA did not elaborate on the date of the inspection and other details. (Yonhap)