北韓向韓國邊境島嶼發射砲彈

North Korea has launched over 200 artillery shells from its western coast, aimed towards Yeonpyeong island, a territory of South Korea, according to reports from Seoul's military. In response, South Korea instructed civilians on the island to seek shelter, before conducting live fire drills of their own.

South Korea labelled the act as 'provocative', however, North Korea refuted claims that the islands were at risk due to their firing drills. In 2010, North Korea's artillery fired numerous times on Yeonpyeong island, resulting in the death of four individuals. The artillery shells fired on Friday, between the hours of 09:00 to 11:00 local time, did not encroach on South Korean territory as they all landed in the buffer zone between the two nations.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that the incident caused 'no damage to our people or military', but added that the act 'threatens peace on the Korean peninsula and raises tensions'. This shelling follows warnings from Pyongyang that it was bolstering its military arsenal in anticipation of a war that could 'break out at any time' on the peninsula.