SEOUL – North Korea fired more than 200 artillery rounds into the sea on Friday near its tightly defended maritime border with South Korea, a military official said, while residents of two South Korean islands were ordered to evacuate due to an unknown “situation”.
The defense ministry would not confirm whether the order was prompted by North artillery fire or South Korean drills in response.
However, a text message sent to residents and confirmed by an island official cited “naval fire” to be carried out by the South Korean military from 3pm (0600 GMT) Friday.
An official on Yeonpyeong island, which lies south of the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL) sea border, said the evacuation was ordered at the request of the South Korean military.
The fire by North Korea did not cause civilian or military damage in the South, the South Korean military said in a news briefing.
People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of North Korean artillery fire, at a train station in Seoul on January 5, 2024. AFP via Getty Images South Koreans take shelter on Yeonpyeong island near disputed waters in the Yellow Sea after North Korea launched artillery attack on January 5, 2024. Ongjin District Office /YONHAP/AFP via Getty Images
“This is a provocative act that increases tensions and threatens peace on the Korean peninsula,” said a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The South Korean military notified the village of gunfire at sea by South Korean forces after a “situation” near the border, the official said.
But it is not clear whether it is an exercise or has another reason.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a key military vehicle production plant with his daughter Ju Ae at an undisclosed location in North Korea on January 5, 2024. KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images
Residents of Baengnyeong island, located far west of Yeonpyeong and also near the sea border, were also told to evacuate, said a village official there.
In 2010, North Korean artillery fired several rounds at Yeonpyeong island, killing four people, including two civilians, in one of the heaviest attacks on its neighbor since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
North Korea said at the time it was provoked into the attack by South Korea’s live-fire drills that dropped projectiles into its territorial waters.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
