The Army conducted live-fire artillery and mechanized unit maneuver drills Tuesday to reinforce readiness against possible North Korean provocations in the new year, its officials said.The exercise took place in areas near the front line, involving the Capital Mechanized Infantry Division and the 2nd Quick Response Division, among other units, with key Army assets, such as K9 self-propelled howitzers and K2 tanks.The drills proceeded under various scenarios, including enemy artillery provocations, with troops carrying out retaliatory artillery firing against the origins of provocations, enemy command posts and their support forces, the Army said.The exercise also mobilized Apache attack helicopters to provide aerial support for ground troops, while mechanized units trained on maneuvering swiftly to suppress enemy forces."In light of the new year and amid a grave security situation, the exercise took place to establish a strong combat posture at all times and to reinforce the resolve for a strong resp onse and punishment in the event of an enemy provocation," the Army said.The drills took place after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un defined inter-Korean ties as relations "between two states hostile to each other" and called for stepped-up preparations to "suppress the whole territory of South Korea" in a year-end ruling party meeting that ended Saturday.Source: Yonhap News Agency