Tuesday, November 23, 2010

N. Korean artillery attack leaves island ablaze

Seoul scrambles F-16 fighter jets; clash follows warning from Pyongyang to stop military drills


YTN television said up to 70 houses were on fire on Yeonpyeong island.

SEOUL — Fires were burning out of control and spreading after a South Korean island was hit by dozens of artillery shells fired by North Korea on Tuesday.

YTN television quoted a witness as saying that many of the North Korean shells had landed at a military base on the island.

South Korea returned fire and scrambled F-16 fighter jets, military officials said. At least one South Korean marine was killed and 13 wounded, the military said.

The firing came amid South Korean military drills in the area. North Korea's military had sent a message to South Korea's armed forces early Tuesday to demand that the drills stop, but the South continued them, said an official at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During the drills, South Korean marines on the island shot artillery toward southern waters, away from North Korea, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of military rules.

Read more here via msnbc.msn.com

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