North Korea fires 200 artillery shells, South Korea forced to evacuate island town
Published: Fri 05th January 2024 : 11:10 AM
Category: Military
South Korea on Friday (Jan 5) told civilians on Yeonpyeong Island, located about 115km east of Seoul in terms of aerial distance, to evacuate after North Korea fired around 200 artillery shells off its west coast.
"About 200 shots were fired by North Korea (near) Yeonpyeong Island," a defense ministry official said at a briefing. Yeonpyeong local officials told news agency AFP that civilians had been asked to evacuate. Hours later, the South Korean defense ministry described it as a "provocative act" and urged North to stop, warning Seoul would take "appropriate measures" in response. The shells reportedly splashed into the maritime buffer zone north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border between both Koreas in the Yellow Sea. The buffer zone was set under an inter-Korean military accord signed on Sept 19, 2018, to reduce border tensions. "We gravely warn that the entire responsibility of such crisis-escalating situations lies with North Korea and strongly urge for its immediate halt," JCS spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun said in a press conference. "Under close coordination between South Korea and the United States, our military is tracking and monitoring related activity, and will conduct corresponding measures to North Korea's provocations."