North Korea fires more than 60 shells near South Korean island of Yeonpyeong

As of Friday, North Korea had already fired more than 200 shells into the Yellow Sea, near the South Korean islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong.

A new round of gunfire. North Korea fired more than 60 shells near the remote South Korean island of Yeonpyeong on Saturday (January 6), the South Korean military said. This announcement comes the day after a first salvo from Pyongyang, which triggered Seoul’s response with live ammunition exercises in the region.

North Korea fired more than 200 shells into the Yellow Sea near the South Korean islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong on Friday. Pyongyang said its shelling near the two islands constituted “a natural response and countermeasure” to military exercises carried out by Seoul, according to the official KCNA agency. Seoul denounced “provocation” and conducted a live ammunition exercise a few hours later in Yeonpyeong, using K9 self-propelled howitzers.

Residents of both islands had been ordered to shelters, according to local officials. Ferry services connecting the islands to the rest of South Korea have been suspended.

A “threat to peace”

On both Saturday and Friday, North Korean shells landed in a buffer zone created in 2018, as part of an agreement between the two neighbors aimed at preventing border military incidents. Seoul, however, partially suspended the deal in November to protest Pyongyang’s launch of a spy satellite, and North Korea rejected the entire deal soon after.

On Saturday, the South Korean military said that North Korean artillery fire in the area “pose a threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula”. She issued “a severe warning” and called on North Korea to stop immediately, assuring that“in response, our army will take appropriate measures to safeguard the country”.

It was the biggest escalation on the peninsula since the North Korean military bombed Yeonpyeong in 2010 in response to a South Korean live ammunition drill near the border. This first North Korean attack against civilians since the Korean War left four dead, two soldiers and two civilians.