North Korea fires artillery shells toward South's border island; evacuations ordered
North Korea fired artillery shells near the disputed sea boundary off South Korea's western coast, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired artillery shells near the disputed sea boundary off South Korea's western coast on Friday, prompting the South to conduct its own live-fire drills in the latest escalation of tensions between the rival neighbors.
Two-hundred rounds were fired toward the Northern Limit Line, with no damage or injuries reported on the South Korean side, the country's Joint Chiefs of Staff said early Friday.
“We detected the artillery firings from Jangsan Cape and Deungsan Cape, both in the North’s southwestern coastal areas, from 9:00 a.m. (7 p.m. ET) to 11 a.m (9 p.m. ET),” it said.
An evacuation was ordered in the bordering island of Yeonpyeong Island but it was unclear if the order was related to the firing. Four South Koreans were killed when the island came under North Korean bombardment in 2010.
South Korea’s military conducted a live-fire drill of its own around the northwestern island in response to the “provocation” by the North, the country's defense ministry said in a statement.
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