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N. Korea fires artillery shells near S. Korean islands: Seoul

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Agence France-Presse 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="An undated photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Jan. 5, 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae inspecting a missile launcher production facility in an undisclosed location in North Korea. EPA-EFE/KCNA " src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2024/overseas/01/05/kim-jong-un-epa-01052024.jpg"/><figcaption>An undated photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Jan. 5, 2024 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Ju Ae inspecting a missile launcher production facility in an undisclosed location in North Korea. <em>EPA-EFE/KCNA </em></figcaption></figure></div><p>SEOUL — North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells near two South Korean islands on Friday, prompting evacuation orders for their residents, Seoul&#x27;s defense ministry and local officials said.</p><p>The live firing follows repeated warnings from Kim Jong Un&#x27;s regime in Pyongyang that it is prepared for war against South Korea and its US ally.</p><p>&quot;The North Korean military conducted over 200 rounds of firing today from around 09:00 to 11:00 in the areas of Jangsan-got in the northern part of Baengnyeong Island and the northern areas... of Yeonpyeong Island,&quot; a defense ministry official said at a briefing.</p><p>Yeonpyeong local officials told AFP that civilians had been told to evacuate, describing the order as a &quot;preventative measure&quot;.</p><p>South Korea&#x27;s Yeonpyeong Island is situated in the Yellow Sea. It is located approximately 80 kilometers west of Incheon and 12 kilometers south of the coastline of Hwanghae Province, North Korea.</p><p>Authorities on Baengnyeong Island also reported an evacuation order there.</p><p>We are making the evacuation announcements at the moment,&quot; a local district official at the Baengnyeong Island told AFP, adding that he had been told the South Korean military would conduct a naval drill shortly.</p><p>Pyongyang fired a barrage of 170 artillery shells onto Yeonpyeong island in November 2010, killing four people including two civilians in the first North Korean attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.</p><p>Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in decades, after Kim enshrined the country&#x27;s status as a nuclear power into the constitution while test-firing several advanced ICBMs.</p><p>At Pyongyang&#x27;s key year-end policy meetings, Kim warned of a nuclear attack on the South and called for a build-up of the country&#x27;s military arsenal ahead of armed conflict that he warned could &quot;break out any time&quot;.</p><p>Kim accused the United States of posing &quot;various forms of military threat&quot; and ordered his armed forces to maintain the &quot;overwhelming war response capability&quot;, according to KCNA&#x27;s account of the meeting that ended on Saturday.</p><p>The meeting concluded that it is a &quot;fait accompli that a war may break out on the Korean peninsula any time due to the enemies&#x27; reckless moves for invading the DPRK&quot;, KCNA said, using the acronym of the North&#x27;s official name.</p><p>In an effort to deter Pyongyang, Washington deployed a nuclear-powered submarine in the South Korean port city of Busan this month and flew its long-range bombers in drills with Seoul and Tokyo.</p><p>The North has described the deployment of Washington&#x27;s strategic weapons, such as B-52 bombers, in joint drills on the Korean peninsula as &quot;intentional nuclear war provocative moves&quot;.</p><p>The military &quot;should rapidly respond to any possible nuclear crisis and put continuous spurs to the preparations for a great event to suppress the whole territory of south Korea by mobilizing all physical means and forces including nuclear forces in contingency&quot;, Kim said.</p><p>In 2023, the North successfully launched a reconnaissance satellite, after receiving what Seoul claimed was help from Russia in exchange for arms transfers for Ukraine.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/12/31/23/north-korea-to-launch-3-more-spy-satellites-in-2024-state-media">North Korea to launch 3 more spy satellites in 2024: state media</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/29/23/ph-condemns-north-koreas-ballistic-missile-launch">PH condemns North Korea’s ballistic missile launch</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/01/01/24/kim-tells-army-to-annihilate-s-korea-us-if-they-initiate-conflict">Kim tells army to &#x27;annihilate&#x27; S. Korea, US if they initiate conflict</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2902080" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2881920" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse </strong></div>

North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells near two South Korean islands on Friday, prompting evacuation orders for their residents.