Post date: Nov 23, 2010 1:22:39 PM
Hundreds of South Korean island residents evacuate to the mainland after the shelling of one of its islands by the North.
INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA (NOVEMBER 23, 2010) YTN - Hundreds of South Korean island residents evacuated to the mainland on Tuesday (November 23) after being bombarded with artillery shells from the North, setting houses and countryside on fire.
Islanders who arrived at the mainland via a ferry from Yeonpyeong Island were visibly shaken.
"It was like a war. My house is all burned out," said a woman who has a house in the island.
Another man from the island said the houses and mountains were on fire.
"I saw the scene at the military army unit. And I saw many houses and mountains on fire," said the man after getting off the ferry.
South Korea said it was conducting regular military drills off the west coast before North Korea started firing dozens of shells, but that its firing exercises werer not aimed at the North.
North Korea said Seoul had initiated the firing of shells, prompting it to take instant military action.
The attack comes just as U.S. special envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth is traveling to the region after revelations over the weekend that the North is moving ahead with uranium enrichment programmes.
North Korea has said it wants to restart six-party nuclear disarmament talks, but Seoul and Washington have said the North must move forward with previous pledges to curtail its nuclear programme.
The impoverished North depends heavily on China for economic and diplomatic support and its leader, Kim Jong-il, has visited China twice this year, in part to gain backing for the anointment of his son to eventually take over the family dynasty.