
On Friday, South Korea issued an evacuation alert to the people of the island of Yeonpyeong near the North Korean border, following reports that the South Korean military will be conducting live-fire drills in the area, according to Yonhap news agency.
According to South Korean military reports, North Korea launched around 200 coastal artillery shells on Friday morning. South Korea suffered minimal damage and the shells fell north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea boundary between the two Koreas.
As stated by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea fired 200 rounds in waters north of their disputed western sea boundary, in violation of a 2018 military agreement. South Korea labelled the North Korean drills a provocation, adding that no damage was done.
“About 200 shots were fired by North Korea (near) Yeonpyeong Island,” a defence ministry official said during a briefing.
Yonhap reported that the decision was taken in response to the North Korean provocation. Yeonpyeong local officials told AFP that residents had been asked to leave.
Quoting an official, Yonhap stated, “We announced the evacuation after receiving a call from a military unit saying it was carrying out a maritime strike on Yeongpyeong Island as it has a situation with a North Korean provocation.”