The South Korean military reported this Friday that live-fire maneuvers were conducted in response to artillery tests recently carried out by North Korea in the Yellow Sea, prompting Seoul to order evacuations on two nearby border islands. Officials released orders for residents of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong islands, both located off the North Korean coast in the Yellow Sea, after Pyongyang fired roughly 200 artillery shells into adjacent areas. There were no reported injuries among civilians or military personnel.
An official statement from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff noted that the North Korean artillery barrage targeted the Jangsan Cape area, north of Baengnyeong Island, between 09:00 and 11:00 local time on Friday. The JCS clarified that Cape Sanseong lies to the north of Yeonpyeong Island. The message, sent to the media, stated that there was no harm to civilians or military personnel, and that the impact point was north of the Northern Limit Line, a maritime boundary that Pyongyang rejects. This line has been a flashpoint in the past, including the 2010 bombardment of Yeonpyeong that resulted in multiple fatalities.
A Yeonpyeong City Hall official, speaking to Yonhap News Agency, confirmed two evacuation orders issued at 12:02 and 12:30 local time, following a military unit’s decision citing North Korean provocations. Yonhap also reported that approximately 4,000 residents on Baengnyeong Island were instructed to move into shelters.
On November 23, 2010, South Korea’s navy conducted live-fire maneuvers near Yeonpyeong, an island about 115 kilometers west of Seoul and ten kilometers from the North Korean coast, which elicited a substantial North Korean artillery response. Dozens of shells rained down on Yeonpyeong, causing extensive damage to buildings, with four deaths and another 18 people injured. [Attribution: Yonhap News Agency, official military statements]
The United Nations had established the Northern Limit Line to prevent new conflicts after the 1953 armistice, but North Korea rejected the line and has argued that the division should be farther south. Clashes around the NLL between North and South Korean forces have left more than fifty people dead in the past two decades, most of them military personnel, with both sides bearing responsibility for ongoing tension.
The sinking of the South Korean corvette ROKS Cheonan, with the loss of 46 crew members, further intensified regional tensions. The current episode underscores a renewed rise in military strain, just months after Pyongyang announced the suspension of a 2018 bilateral military agreement aimed at lowering border-area tensions and banning live-fire exercises near the division. That agreement’s fate has left the region susceptible to renewed confrontations and rapid shifts in security posture. [Attribution: official military and regional security reports]