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. 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.
Ferries from these islands, located very close to the North Korean sides, to the rest of South Korea have been suspended. Seoul declared “an act of provocation” and hours later conducted a live ammunition exercise in Yeonpyeong using K9 automobile howitzers. 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 that the evacuation order was a “preventive measure”. In a statement, South Korea’s Defense Ministry declared it a “provocative act threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula.” The ministry clarified that the shooting caused no casualties or damage, as the shells fell north of the de facto maritime border, called the “Northern Limit Line” (NLL).
China, an ally of North Korea, called “all parties for calm and restraint”, saying it hoped that they “will refrain from taking measures that aggravate tensions (and) that they will avoid a new climb”. The island of Yeonpyeong, 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.
“Persistent and uncontrollable crisis”
“I first thought they were shells fired by our own army, but I was later told it was North Korea,” said resident Kim Jin-soo. from Baengnyeong Island, to local TV channel YTN. “The people of the five islands are seized with fear,” he continued, referring to the South Korean islands located near the North. 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. 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.
At the end of a meeting of the central committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea 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 also ruled out any reconciliation with South Korea, highlighting the “persistent and uncontrollable crisis situation” which he said was triggered by Seoul and Washington with their joint military exercises in the region.
In an effort to deter, the US armed forces have sent the nuclear-powered submarine USS Missouri, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and a B-52 strategic bomber to South Korea in recent months, each time provoking anger. . from Pyongyang.