South Korea carried out a live-fire exercise in response to what it called a “provocation” after shelling by the North spurred evacuation of two frontline South Korean islands in the Yellow Sea on Friday.
The shelling and the South’s forceful response are an escalation of tensions between the two Koreas whose leaders have traded harsh words lately.
South Korea’s military said that residents of two islands — Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong — were ordered into shelters due to shelling by the North on Friday morning. The North fired roughly 200 shells near the Yellow Sea islands between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., which landed on the North Korean side of the maritime border, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a news release. No casualties were reported.