The South Korean Navy on Thursday held a large-scale anti-submarine drill in the Yellow Sea amid rising tensions between South Korea and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

South Korean Army soldiers take part in a military drill at a firing range near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, about 45 km (28 miles) north of Seoul, May 24, 2010. [Xinhua]

About 10 South Korean warships, including a 3,500-ton KDX-I destroyer, three 1,200-ton patrol ships and six high-speed boats were deployed for the drill. The soldiers also practiced firing live artillery and dropping anti-submarine depth charges, local media quoted officers at the Navy Second Fleet Command in Pyongtaek as saying.

The drill, which took place in waters off the county of Taean, about 150 km southwest of Seoul, and will end on Friday, aimed at deterring further DPRK aggression, as part of a series of countermeasures to deal with the Cheonan incident, Seoul said on Monday.

Seoul is also planning to stage joint anti-submarine drill with the United States off the west coast of the Korean peninsula next month, to "enhance the defensive ability against the DPRK", navy source was quoted as saying.

Seoul has announced a slew of military, diplomatic and economic measures to punish the DPRK earlier this week, after it made public the outcome of investigations over the Cheonan incident made by a multinational team, which said the warship that went into waters near a tense maritime border with the DPRK in March was torpedoed by the DPRK. But the DPRK denied its involvement.

According to Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, the military measures will also include holding military exercises aimed at deterring proliferation of Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction. Meanwhile, Seoul will no longer allow DPRK-flagged vessels in the South's territorial waters and forcibly return them in case ships do not comply with the measure, while it immediately resumes anti-Pyongyang propaganda activities, Kim said.