South Korea has fired back dozens of artillery rounds after a North Korean rocket attack earlier on Thursday. According to South Korea's KBS broadcaster, which cites a local military official, the shelling was aimed at a military loudspeaker that has been blaring anti-Pyongyang broadcasts in recent days, and took place on the western portion of the border.
"Our side staged a counter-attack with dozens of 155mm shells," a ministry spokesman told AFP.
According to Yonhap, North Korea has not yet responded to the move. South Korea will hold a National Security Council session to assess the situation.
No casualties or damage have been reported, but South Korea has ordered evacuation of civilians from the border area.
The clash comes days after Seoul announced it would resume its propaganda operations at the border for the first time in 11 years, in retaliation for the landmine blasts that maimed two of its soldiers during a frontier patrol, South China Morning Post reports.
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20/8/15
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South Korea evacuation after shelling on western border...
ReplyDeleteSouth Korea has ordered the evacuation of residents from an area of its western border after an exchange of fire with North Korea, reports say.
North Korea fired a shell at a South Korean military unit on Thursday, prompting the south to retaliate with several artillery rounds, the South's defence ministry said.
South Korea's National Security Council is due to hold an emergency session.
The western sea border has long been a flashpoint between the two Koreas.
North Korea fired a projectile towards Yeoncheon, a town north-west of Seoul, at 15:52 local time (06:52 GMT), the defence ministry said.
Reports suggest the target could have been a loudspeaker broadcasting anti-Pyongyang messages.
The South then fired "dozens of rounds of 155mm shells" towards where they thought the rocket was launched from, the ministry added in a statement.
There were no immediate reports of any injuries or damage on either side.
The two Koreas remain technically at war, because the 1950-1953 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
The two sides have exchanged cross-border fire several times in recent years.
A local official told AP news agency that about 80 residents in Yeoncheon had been evacuated, with other residents in the area also urged to take shelter.
BBC
20/8/15