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North Korea's military fired more than 60 artillery shells near Yeonpyeong Island on Saturday, Seoul's military said, a day after the two sides conducted live-fire drills in the same area near their disputed maritime border.
"At approximately 16:00 to 17:00 (0700 to 0800 GMT) today, North Korean troops fired more than 60 artillery shells from the northwest area of Yeonpyeong Island," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
On Friday, North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells near Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong Islands, sparsely populated islands south of the two countries' de facto maritime border.
In one of the most serious military escalations on the peninsula, since Pyongyang fired artillery shells at one of the islands in 2010, residents of both islands were ordered to evacuate to shelters and ferries were suspended.
On both Friday and Saturday, North Korean shells landed within a buffer zone created under a 2018 deal to ease tensions that collapsed in November after North Korea launched a spy satellite.
Seoul's military said on Saturday that "North Korea's repeated artillery attacks in the zone where hostilities are prohibited pose a threat to peace on the Korean peninsula and escalate tensions."
They issued a "strong warning" and urged North Korea to immediately stop such actions.
"North Korea claims that the September 19 Military Agreement is completely invalid and continues to threaten our citizens with sustained artillery fire within the zone of no hostilities," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
"In response, our military will take appropriate measures to defend our country," the statement said.
North Korea said on Friday that its missile drills had not even had an "indirect impact" on border islands.
Yeonpyeong Island is located about 115 kilometres west of Seoul and has about 2,000 residents. Baengnyeong is about 210 kilometres west of Seoul and has a population of 4,900.
In November, Seoul partially suspended the 2018 military deal to protest Pyongyang's placement of a spy satellite into orbit. Pyongyang subsequently abrogated the agreement entirely.
In 2010, North Korea bombed Yeonpyeong Island in response to South Korea's live-fire drills near the maritime border, killing four South Koreans - two soldiers and two civilians.
It was the first attack on a civilian area since the 1950-53 Korean War.
Source: AFP
北韓連續第二天在韓國海上邊界附近發射更多炮火
首爾軍方表示，北韓軍方週六在延坪島附近發射了 60 多發砲彈，一天前，雙方在有爭議的海上邊界附近的同一地區進行了實彈演習。
首爾參謀長聯席會議在一份聲明中表 示： “今天大約 16:00 至 17:00（格林威治標準時間 0700 至 0800），朝鮮軍隊從延坪島西北地區發射了 60 多發砲彈。”
週五，北韓在延坪島和白翎群島附近發射了 200 多發砲彈，這兩個島嶼位於兩國事實上的海上邊界以南，人口稀少。
這是半島上最嚴重的軍事升級之一，自 2010 年平壤向其中一個島嶼發射砲彈以來，兩個島嶼的居民都被命令疏散到避難所，渡輪也被暫停。
週五和週六，北韓的砲彈都落在根據 2018 年協議創建的緩衝區內，該協議旨在緩解緊張局勢，該協議於 11 月北韓發射間諜衛星後崩潰。
首爾軍方週六表 示， “朝鮮在禁止敵對行動的地區一再進行砲擊，對朝鮮半島的和平構成威脅，並使緊張局勢升級。”
他們發出“強烈警告”，並敦促北韓立即停止此類行動。
參謀長聯席會議表 示： “北韓聲稱 9 月 19 日的軍事協議完全無效，並繼續在無敵對行動區內用持續砲火威脅我們的公民。”
聲明 稱： “作為回應，我們的軍隊將採取適當措施保衛我們的國家。”
北韓週五表示，其飛彈演習甚至沒有對邊境島嶼產生「間接影響」。
延坪島位於首爾以西約115公里處，約有2,000名居民。 白翎位於首爾以西約 210 公里處，人口為 4,900 人。
11 月，首爾部分暫停了 2018 年軍事協議，以抗議平壤將間諜衛星送入軌道。 平壤隨後完全廢除了該協議。
2010年，作為對韓國在海上邊界附近進行實彈演習的回應，北韓轟炸了延坪島，造成四名韓國人死亡——兩名士兵和兩名平民。
這是自 1950-53 年韓戰以來首次針對平民區的攻擊
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