North Korea has beefed up its military forces on the west coast ahead of South Korea's planned live-fire drill in the area, a South Korean government source said Sunday.



"The North Korean artillery unit along the Yellow Sea has raised its preparedness level," the source said.



The source added he couldn't confirm whether some of North Korea's weapons had been moved closer to South Korea, but said, "Some fighter jets that had been inside the air force hangar have come out to the ground."



South Korea earlier Sunday reaffirmed its plan to go ahead with the live-fire drill off Yeonpyeong Island either Monday or Tuesday.



The island located near the tense maritime border on the Yellow Sea

was shelled by North Korean artillery on Nov. 23, and two marines

and two civilians were killed in the bombing.



North Korea operates a 76.2-millimeter coastal gun with a 12-kilometer range north of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, another South Korean border island. The communist state also has a 122-millimeter multiple launch rocket with a 20km range lined up among other weapons.



North Korea has threatened "unpredictable self-defensive blows" with "deadlier" firepower, prompting China and Russia to urge South

Korea to cancel the one-day drill. But South Korea's Joint Chiefs

of Staff (JCS) said the drill is part of the military's routine

exercises and North Korea's threats and diplomatic situations won't

be taken into consideration.(Yonhap News)



