North Korea attacked on South Korean ground

North Korea fired shells against an island in South Korea, causing the reaction of Seoul, the military forces of which returned fire. According to eyewitnesses, the bombing against the South Korean island is still on while some buildings have collapsed. Many residents and South Korean soldiers have been injured, said the South Korean Ministry of Defense, while the staff of the North Korean president is meeting in an underground shelter. 

On his part, the South Korean President said that he is trying to avoid escalation of exchanging fire into a wider conflict.

The YTN news network reported that Seoul gave warning of a stronger attack if North Korea keeps on provoking them. The military staff of South Korea confirmed that some shells hit the island and a detail of its army while other shells fell into the sea. A South Korean spokesperson from the ministry of Defense said: “A North Korean artillery unit shot shells in a provocative manner at 14:34 (local time) and the South Korean forces immediately returned fire”.

South Korean military aircraft were given orders to fly over the island. 

According to a resident of the island Geopgieongk, about fifty shells fell on the island. "We were ordered to abandon our homes," said Lee Jong-Sik, a resident of the island located in the Yellow Sea, an area claimed by both states on the Korean peninsula where others incidents have occurred in the past.

South Korean television showed pictures of the island, where towering columns of smoke could be seen.

The attack coincides with the departure of the U.S. envoy for North Korea, Stephen Borworth, from Tokyo to Beijing, where he will meet with Chinese officials to discuss the nuclear program of North Korea, only a few days after revealing the existence of North Korean uranium enrichment.