North Korea fired more than 200 rounds of artillery shells off its west coast on Jan. 5, according to South Korea’s military. South Korea issued an evacuation order to civilians on the western border island of Yeonpyeong, which is home to around 2,000 people.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the shellings were detected at the Jangsan Cape area, north of South Korea’s northernmost island of Baengnyeong, and Deungsan Cape, north of Yeonpyeong, from 9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m. There have been no reports of casualties or damage to the South Korean military or civilians.
“This is an act of provocation that escalates tension and threatens peace on the Korean peninsula,” said a JCS official. “North Korea is solely responsible for the escalation of tensions [between the two Koreas] and we strongly urge the North to cease such actions immediately.”
The shells fell into the maritime buffer zone, where firing artillery is prohibited under the Sept. 19 Comprehensive Military Agreement signed in 2018. The North scrapped the accord after launching a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit last November, violating United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions banning its use of ballistic missile technology.
South Korea ordered the evacuation of residents on Yeonpyeong Island shortly after North Korea’s shelling. A local county official confirmed that the emergency evacuation order was given at 12:20 p.m. and again at 12:30 p.m. at the request of the South Korean military.
