/ 10 August 2011

North Korea fires shells near border with South

North Korea fired artillery shells near its disputed Yellow Sea border with South Korea on Wednesday, Seoul’s defence ministry said, the second such incident in one day.

The South’s marines posted on a frontline island fired warning shots in response, as they had done hours earlier.

The first incident came at 1pm (4am GMT), when a North Korean shell landed near the sea border.

The North’s coastal artillery fired again at 7.46pm towards the border known as the Northern Limit Line and the South again fired warning shots in response, a ministry spokesperson said.

“There were no more shots afterwards but we’re now closely watching the situation,” he said, declining to say how many rounds were fired.

Yonhap quoted a resident on Yeonpyeong island as saying the North Korea fired three shots in the evening, the same number as earlier in the day. — AFP