North Korea fired more than 200 shells Friday into the Yellow Sea, near the remote South Korean islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong where civilians have fled to shelters, and Seoul responded with a live ammunition drill in the same area.
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North Korea said its shelling near the two South Korean islands was “a natural response and countermeasure” to military exercises carried out by Seoul, the official KCNA agency said.
This military escalation is one of the most serious on the peninsula since 2010, when the North bombed Yeonpyeong. It comes after a burst of bellicose statements from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has notably threatened in recent days to “annihilate” South Korea and the United States.
Seoul denounced a “provocation” and a few hours later conducted a live ammunition exercise in Yeonpyeong using K9 self-propelled howitzers. Ferries connecting these islands, located very close to the North Korean coast, to the rest of South Korea have been suspended.
According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, the North Korean army “carried out more than 200 shots” in the waters near the two islands between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. (00:00 and 02:00 GMT).
Residents were ordered to shelters, according to local officials. Authorities on Yeonpyeong Island told AFP the order was a “preventative measure.”
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik denounced “a provocative act that threatens peace on the Korean peninsula and aggravates tensions.”
“Overwhelming force”
The South Korean military will take “immediate, strong and definitive retaliatory measures – we must support peace with overwhelming force,” he added.
The ministry clarified that the shots caused no casualties or damage, as the shells fell north of the de facto maritime border, called the “Northern Limit Line” (NLL).
North Korea in turn urged South Korea not to “commit any provocation under the pretext of a so-called countermeasure,” according to the KCNA agency. She threatened a “harsh countermeasure at an unprecedented level.”
China, an ally of North Korea, called on “all parties for calm and restraint,” saying it hoped they would “refrain from taking measures that aggravate tensions (and) that they will avoid a new escalation”.
Yeonpyeong Island, which has around 2,000 inhabitants, is located 115 km west of Seoul and around ten kilometers south of the North Korean coast. Also very close to North Korea, Baengnyeong, 4,900 inhabitants, is 210 km from the capital.
Residents “seized with fear”
“I first thought they were shells fired by our own army, but I was later told it was North Korea,” said Kim Jin-soo, a resident of Baengnyeong Island, on YTN television channel.
The residents “are seized with fear,” he continued.
In 2010, the North Korean military bombed Yeonpyeong in response to a South Korean live ammunition exercise near the border. This first North Korean attack against civilians since the Korean War (1950-1953) left four dead, two soldiers and two civilians.
South Korea responded. The artillery duel had lasted about an hour, with each side firing some 200 shells, raising fears of a major escalation.
Relations between the two Koreas are currently at their lowest point in decades.
At the end of December, Kim Jong Un ordered the acceleration of military preparations for a “war” that could “be launched at any time”. He denounced a “persistent and uncontrollable crisis situation”, according to him triggered by Seoul and Washington with their joint military exercises in the region.
Last year, North Korea enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution and fired several intercontinental ballistic missiles, in violation of UN resolutions.
In another sign of worsening tensions between the two neighbors, Seoul partially suspended in November an agreement concluded with Pyongyang in 2018 which aimed to prevent border military incidents.
North Korea responded by completely withdrawing from this agreement, which notably established “buffer zones” along the border in which all live ammunition firing was prohibited.
“The cancellation of the agreement increases the possibility of military clashes in border areas,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.
“The evacuation of our residents raises psychological and security concerns, which may ultimately destabilize South Korea’s economy,” added the expert.