N. Korea fires over 200 rounds’ of artillery shells near S. Korean isles

SEOUL - North Korea fired an artillery barrage near two South Korean islands on Jan 5, Seoul's Defence Ministry said, prompting a live-fire drill from the South Korean military.

Residents on the two islands were ordered to evacuate, and ferries were suspended as South Korea held a live-fire exercise after the North's barrage - one of the most serious military escalations on the peninsula since Pyongyang fired shells at one of the same islands in 2010.

North Korea later said it conducted firing drills as a "natural response" to military actions by South Korea's "military gangsters" in recent days. It also threatened an "unprecedented strong response" if Seoul continued to make provocative moves.

The Jan 5 live firing followed repeated warnings from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's regime in Pyongyang that it was prepared for war against South Korea and its ally, the United States.

South Korea's Defence Ministry said the North's military fired "over 200 rounds" of artillery shells on the morning of Jan 5 near Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong, two sparsely populated islands that are just south of a de-facto maritime border between the two sides.

The shells landed in the so-called buffer zone along the border, created by a 2018 tension-reducing deal, which fell apart in November after Mr Kim's spy satellite launch.