South Korea evacuates two islands after Pyongyang launches 200 projectiles

First modification: 01/05/2024 – 17:56

4 min

New tension on the Korean peninsula, near a disputed maritime border.

Through their mobile phones, the South Korean residents of the Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands, in the western border area, received the immediate evacuation order to go to air raid shelters, this Friday, January 5

The call was made after North Korea launched more than 200 artillery rounds very close to the islands. All the projectiles fell on the northern side of the maritime border, Seoul said, while Pyongyang assured that they had no impact on the South Korean islands.

Although the avalanche of fire caused no fatalities or injuries, it did escalate friction between the two rivals. In response, the South Korean military fired “live fire” toward the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL) border, in what it described as “corresponding” measures.

“This is a provocative act that increases tension and threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula,” South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said as he oversaw the military exercises, which included mechanized artillery and tanks.

But Pyongyang threatened another “unprecedented strong response” if Seoul continues what it called “provocative” measures.

And the Army General Staff controlled by Kim Jong Un justified its flurry of shots this Friday as a “natural response” against the actions of the “South Korean military gangsters.”

The North Korean Administration has warned in recent days that the situation on the peninsula is heading towards war, due to what it describes as the dangerous measures of the Armies of Washington and Seoul. In recent months, the two allies have strengthened joint military exercises, in the face of North Korea's constant nuclear tests, some of which have hit Japanese waters.

Maritime border, a disputed area that raises tensions

The two countries maintain a land border, marked by the demilitarized zone, and another maritime border, in the western part of the peninsula.

Drawn at the end of the Korean War in the 1950s as an unofficial border, Pyongyang did not dispute the NLL until the 1970s, when it began violating the line and defending a border further south.

For years the waters near the disputed NLL have been the scene of several deadly clashes between the two Koreas. They included offensives involving warships and the sinking of a South Korean corvette in 2010, which Seoul believes was caused by a North Korean torpedo, which left 46 sailors dead.

Yeonpyeong is home to just over 2,000 residents and troops stationed there, about 120 kilometers west of Seoul and accessible by ferries that take around two and a half hours to arrive.

For its part, Baengnyeong Island, which is located far west of Yeonpyeong and also close to the maritime border, has a population of approximately 4,900 inhabitants.

The two islands, where their inhabitants had to evacuate their homes in an emergency on January 5, are experiencing growing friction.

Seoul and Pyongyang had agreed to cease military exercises near their borders, including maritime areas off the western and eastern coasts.

But both have carried out armed exercises near the disputed waters. Last November, North Korea assured that the agreement signed in 2018 to reduce tension and prevent outbreaks of fighting is no longer valid, after the South indicated that it would resume military tests near the border.

For the South, North Korea's actions, including the launch of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, are a latent danger to the region, encouraging greater support from Washington. For the North, joint operations with the West are provocative actions.

The tension continues, as both sides promise “crushing” responses.

With Reuters and AP