Yeonpyeong Island is a group of South Korean islands in the Yellow Sea, located about 80 km west of Incheon and 12 km south of the coast of Hwanghae Province, North Korea. The main island of the group is Daeyeonpyeong Island, also referred to simply as Yeonpyeong Island, with an area of 7.01 km² and a population of 1,176 (1999). The other inhabited island is Soyeonpyeong Island, with a small population and an area of 0.24 km².[1]
The island group constitutes Yeonpyeong-myeon, one of the subdivisions of Ongjin County, Incheon, South Korea.
BEIJING - North Korea launched a massive artillery barrage on a South Korean island Tuesday, killing two South Korean marines, wounding at least 19 other people and setting more than 60 buildings ablaze in the most serious confrontation since the North's sinking of a South Korean warship in March.
South Korea immediately responded with its own artillery fire and put its fighter jets on high alert, bringing the two sides - which technically have remained in a state of war since the Korean armistice in 1953 - close to the brink of a major conflagration.
In the United States, a White House spokesman said President Obama was "outraged" by North Korea's "provocative" action, adding that Americans stand by South Korea. Obama plans to call South Korean President Lee Myung-bak later Tuesday to express American solidarity, spokesman Bill Burton told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Indiana.
South Korea called the shelling of the civilian-inhabited island of Yeonpyeong, which lies near the disputed maritime border separating North and South Korea, a breach of the 57-year-old armistice that halted the Korean War without a peace agreement.
The North fired an estimated 200 artillery shells onto the island, and the South returned fire with about 80 shells from its own howitzers. The attack began just after 2:30 p.m.
News reports said the estimated 1,700 civilian residents of the island escaped to bunkers while the shelling continued. Television footage showed several plumes of black smoke rising from the island.
The United States, Russia and China all called for a cessation of hostilities. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement, "The United States strongly condemns this attack and calls on North Korea to halt its belligerent action and to fully abide by the terms of the armistice agreement."
The United States keeps about 28,000 troops in South Korea to aid in its defense, and Gibbs said that "the United States is firmly committed to the defense of our ally, the Republic of Korea, and to the maintenance of regional peace and stability." Burton later told reporters, "The president is outraged by this action. We stand shoulder to shoulder with South Korea." He said Obama was informed of the attack at 3:55 a.m. Eastern time. "North Korea has a pattern of doing things that are provocative," Burton said. "This is a part of that pattern."
Lee, the South Korean president, convened an emergency meeting of security ministers in Seoul. In an official statement, government spokesman Hong Sang-pyo called the North's action a "clear military provocation" and warned that any further attack would be met with "stern retaliation."
At the United Nations, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, condemned the attack, calling it "one of the gravest incidents since the end of the Korean War." He also called for "immediate restraint" and said any North-South differences must be resolved peacefully.
This post first appeared on General News In All Different Areas, please read the originial post: here
