A self-propelled artillery K-55A1 of the 17th Army Division is firing shells at the Mugun-ri Training Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on March 3. Yonhap

The South Korean military on Tuesday denied as "groundless" North Korea's claims that it fired more than 30 artillery shells at a shooting range near the inter-Korean border.

A spokesperson for the General Staff of the North's Korean People's Army (KPA) claimed the firing took place at the range in Paju, northwest of Seoul, earlier in the day, calling it a "very grave military provocation."

"There was no artillery firing by our military in the region where the North claims (the firing occurred)," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

"The announcement by the North Korean military's General Staff is not true and a groundless claim."

The KPA General Staff's spokesperson said that after the alleged firing, it ordered artillery units under the Second Army Corps to "get on the firepower alert posture for attack," and took a "step to intensify the overall front guard and the anti-aircraft combat duty." (Yonhap)