North Korea fires artillery shells from west coast towards S Korean islands
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired about 200 artillery shells from the west coast towards the South Korean islands. It is worth noting that in 2010, residents of Yeonpyeong Island, an island under South Korean control that was subjected to North Korean artillery fire, were ordered to evacuate immediately because of Pyongyang's "possible provocation", Azernews reports.
Immediately afterwards, South Korea issued a warning to evacuate civilians on the island, although it did not confirm whether it was related.
The South condemned the move, calling it a "provocative act." North Korean artillery shelled Yeonpyeong Island several times in 2010, killing four people.
The artillery shells fired on Friday between 09:00 and 11:00 local time (00:00 and 02:00 GMT) did not hit South Korean territory as they all fell 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 latest incident comes months after North Korea completely suspended a military agreement with the South aimed at reducing tensions.
Pyongyang has since said it will cancel all measures "taken to prevent military conflict in all areas, including land, sea and air" and deploy "more powerful armed forces and new-type military equipment" to the border region.
The last time North Korea fired artillery shells into the sea was in December 2022, with nine such incidents this year alone.
Yeonpyeong Island, home to a military base and a small civilian population of about 2,000, is 3 km from the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea and 12 km from the North Korean coast.
It has been the scene of inter-Korean maritime clashes for many years.
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