North Korea fires artillery shells towards South's border island

FE Team | Published: January 05, 2024 23:15:44

SEOUL, Jan 05 (BBC): North Korea has fired more than 200 rounds of artillery shells off its west coast, towards the South's Yeonpyeong island, Seoul's military has said.
South Korea ordered civilians to seek shelter on the island before holding live fire drills of its own.
The South has condemned the move, calling it a "provocative act". In 2010, North Korean artillery fired scores of times on Yeonpyeong island, killing four people.
The artillery shells fired on Friday, between 09:00 to 11:00 local time did not enter South Korean territory as they all landed in the buffer zone between the two countries.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the incident caused "no damage to our people or military", but added that the act "threatens peace on the Korean peninsula and raises tensions".
The shelling follows warnings from Pyongyang that it was building up its military arsenal in preparation for war that could "break out at any time" on the peninsular.
Authorities on two nearby islands, Baengnyeong and Daecheong, also told civilians to seek shelter.
"North Korea resuming its artillery fire drills inside the non-hostility zone this morning is an act of provocation which threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and raises tension," South Korea's Defence Minister Shin Won-sik said in a statement on Friday.
"Our military must assume the readiness to completely wipe out the enemy so that they wouldn't dare another provocation, and to back up the pace through strength," he said. His ministry said it did not observe any movements from the North during South Korea's drills.
The latest incident comes months after North Korea fully suspended a military deal with the South that had been aimed at improving relations. The deal started to sour after Pyongyang claimed to have successfully launched a spy satellite into space in November. This led to South Korea partly suspending the agreement, saying it would resume surveillance flights along the border.