North Korea has fired artillery in the direction of a South Korean island today in an apparent training exercise, media and a government official said.
A South Korean Defence Ministry official said the shells landed in the waters off Yeonpyeong island but it was not clear whether it was inside the South's territorial waters.
Yonhap news agency said South Korea fired back with its artillery.
"Three shots were heard. One shell landed near the Northern Limit Line," Yonhap quoted a military official as saying.
The line was the scene of several skirmishes over the past decade including two deadly attacks last year that killed 50 South Koreans.
Yonhap said the shelling started at around 2pm local time. South Korea replied with three rounds artillery fire.
Fishing boats in the vicinity were called to port, and Yeonpyeong residents were evacuated into emergency shelters, media reports said.
Yeonpyeong island was attacked by the North last November, when four people were killed.
Previous incidents triggered by the North's violation of the Northern Limit Line, unilaterally drawn up by the US military at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, have led to clashes by the two sides' navies killing dozens of sailors.
However, tensions had eased since the start of the year since the North's renewed calls for dialogue, including the resumption of six-way talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear arms programme.
Reuters
