Norks Shell South Korean Border Island

The Norks continue to act in an unpredictable and very dangerous manner, this time shelling the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong causing property damage and a number of casualties. Sooner or later someone is going to have to take care of this mad dog!

South Korea says it has returned fire after North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells at one of its border islands, killing two marines. The South's military was placed on its highest non-wartime alert after the shells landed on Yeonpyeong island. There is confusion about what triggered the shelling, with the North's military insisting it did not open fire first. Analysts say this is one of the most serious clashes since the Korean War ended without a peace treaty in 1953.

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A spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korean shells had started falling in the waters off the island of Yeonpyeong at 1434 local time (0534 GMT). At least 50 landed directly on the island, most hitting a South Korean military base there. The South's military immediately fired back some 80 shells in self-defence, Col Lee Bung-woo added. At least 16 South Korean marines and three civilians were injured in the clashes.

A resident on the island told the AFP news agency that dozens of houses were damaged by the barrage, while television pictures showed plumes of smoke rising above the island.

"Houses and mountains are on fire and people are evacuating. You can't see very well because of plumes of smoke," a witness on the island told YTN television station. "People are frightened to death."

Local government spokesman Yoon Kwan-seok said the shelling lasted for about an hour and then stopped abruptly.

"The whole of Yeonpyeong island was blacked out following the North Korean attacks," he was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency. "All of the island's 1,600-odd residents were evacuated to shelters."

The South Korean military has also deployed fighter jets to Yeonpyeong, which lies about 3km (1.8 miles) south of the disputed inter-Korean maritime border and 100km (60 miles) west of the Korean Peninsula. It said the "inhumane" attack on civilian areas violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War. Later, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak warned North Korea that his country would "sternly retaliate against any further provocations".

"North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong island constitutes a clear armed provocation. Furthermore, its reckless shelling of civilian targets is unpardonable," his office said in a statement.

"North Korean authorities must take responsibility."

But North Korea's supreme military command blamed South Korea for the incident.

"The South Korean enemy, despite our repeated warnings, committed reckless military provocations of firing artillery shells into our maritime territory near Yeonpyeong island beginning 1300 (0400 GMT)," the state-run KCNA news agency quoted it as saying.

The North would "continue to make merciless military attacks with no hesitation if the South Korean enemy dares to invade our sea territory by 0.001mm", it warned.

"It is our military's traditional response to quell provocative actions with a merciless thunderbolt."

It did not say whether North Korea suffered any casualties or damage. A South Korean military official later told the Reuters news agency that it had been conducting regular military drills in the sea off Yeonpyeong before the incident, but that no fire was aimed towards North Korea.

"We were conducting usual military drills and our test shots were aimed toward the west, not the north," he said.

By: Shelldrake