N. Korea fires artillery towards S. Korean island, official says (houses destroyed, fire broke out)

Yonhap News ^ | 11/23/10

[TigerLikesRooster]

N. Korea fires artillery towards S. Korean island, official says

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Tuesday fired several rounds of artillery towards South Korean waters and an island near the tense west sea border, the South's military said.

The North's artillery shells fell at 2:34 p.m. in the South's waters off the island of Yeonpyeong, some of them landing directly on the island, said Col. Lee Bung-woo, spokesman at the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The South's military responded with its artillery firing.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I don’t know much about artillery but I don’t think that’s a very good hit to miss ratio.

[AmericanInTokyo]

One debates that it might be wise to let Obongo sleep through this one and forgo the 1:55 a.m. Call. At least the ROK military could move without him fettering it somehow and calling for a "time out" to take it to the UN.

Man I have been itching for some Norkie ass to get kicked for over 40s years. After the USS Pueblo and Operation Paul Bunyan, this is about as close as you can get.

Better to let the Kenyan sleep through the next few hours.

Eagles up and hang in there. This is indeed a war provocation.

[Thunder90]

Hey Obama... It’s 2am. Your phone’s ringing...

Obama “Let Biden handle it... I’m too drunk”

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Biden “I can't hear anything with my head up my a$$. You people should know that.”

[GeronL]

The Cheonan wasn’t enough??

Did anyone get killed?

[TigerLikesRooster]

That's OK. This is an operation to scare the sh*t out of NK’s adversaries(SK’s allies political establishment and SK’s general public.) Fire lots of artillery shells. Hit some village and military base. Produce fire and mayhem. That is the objective and it is apparently successful.

[MWestMom]

Fox news alert. Fighter planes being scrambled.

[MWestMom]

Fox news alert. Fighter planes being scrambled.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Right. Kenyan should stay out and make his appearance scarce. Let S. Korean and U.S. military brass handle this. Lee Myung-bak should stay out, too. As usual, he is still trying to figure out if NK really did it. He did the same last time when Cheonan was sunk.

[AmericanInTokyo]

The Republic of South Korea is now on TOP ALERT STATUS.

Scrambled confirmed and military command alert level raised to highest level. 2 a.m. Eastern Tuesday

[STARWISE]

Indeed. God bless and protect the S.Koreans from
this crazy monsters.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Twitter Breaking News

###

BreakingNews

.Update: S. Korea says it has scrambled F16 jets after N. Korean island attack - AP
less than 10 seconds ago via breakingnews.com .

Update: S. Korean military says it is on highest non-wartime alert after the North’s shelling of island - Reuters
5 minutes ago via breakingnews.com .RT @YonhapNews:

(URGENT) Four S. Korean soldiers wounded by N. Korean artillery fire: military officials http://bit.ly/fnmFVE
17 minutes ago via TweetDeck .

Update: S. Korea reports it has returned fire after shelling from North - Reuters http://reut.rs/hGnsdU
24 minutes ago via breakingnews.com .

N. Korea fires artillery into sea near border with South - Yonhap News http://bit.ly/gFK2Y5
about 1 hour ago via breakingnews.com

http://twitter.com/breakingnews

[bushpilot1]

[justa-hairyape]

Oh. Crap.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Yep. That was in a few minutes ago.
The question is, “Will they be allowed to retaliate?”

[STARWISE]

YonhapNews

.Lee convenes emergency meeting of ministers over N. Korean attack http://bit.ly/f5ns3C
less than 20 seconds ago via web .

(URGENT) S. Korean fighter jets deployed to west sea to counter N. Korea’s artillery fire, official says http://bit.ly/hdTjpM
21 minutes ago via YonhapNewsEnglish .

(LEAD) S. Korea mulls pulling nationals out of N. Korea after artillery exchange http://bit.ly/e1pJHe
27 minutes ago via YonhapNewsEnglish .

(LEAD) N. Korea fires dozens of rounds of artillery toward S. Korean island http://bit.ly/efdSD5
27 minutes ago via web .

(URGENT) Four S. Korean soldiers wounded by N. Korean artillery fire: military officials http://bit.ly/fnmFVE
34 minutes ago via YonhapNewsEnglish .

S. Korea checking safety of its nationals in N. Korea http://bit.ly/eEi8Im
35 minutes ago via web .

S. Korea checking safety of its nationals in N. Korea http://bit.ly/dYxR1O
38 minutes ago via YonhapNewsEnglish .

N. Korea fires artillery towards S. Korean island, official says http://bit.ly/gvME1V
about 1 hour ago via YonhapNewsEnglish

http://twitter.com/YonhapNews

[GeronL]

Some of those shells hit a civilian village. This should put them on a wartime footing for realz.

[STARWISE]

Casualties as N.Korea fires artillery at South
(AFP) – 1 hour ago

Excerpt:

SEOUL — North Korea fired artillery shells onto a South Korean border island on Tuesday, causing casualties and prompting an exchange of fire with southern troops, officials and reports said.

The firing came after North Korea’s disclosure of an apparently operational uranium enrichment programme — a second potential way of building a nuclear bomb — which is causing serious alarm for the United States and its allies.

Some 50 North Korean shells landed on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong near the tense Yellow Sea border, causing some injuries and damage to dozens of houses, YTN television reported.

Four South Korean soldiers were wounded by the North Korean artillery barrage, the Yonhap news agency said.

The South Korean military went on its highest state of alert, the defence ministry said, and YTN reported that South Korean air force jets were scrambled to the island.

But a ministry spokesman told AFP: “A North Korean artillery unit staged an illegal firing provocation at 2:34 pm (0534 GMT) and South Korean troops fired back immediately in self-defence.”

One island resident, Lee Jong-Sik, told YTN: “At least 10 houses are burning. I can’t see clearly for the smoke. The hillsides are also on fire.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i0IZP3c3FR62B4l5XBfMVYVktBKA?docId=CNG.078ec7b362705e06b1ea3a05530f00eb.711

[TigerLikesRooster]

Yeah. The latest report says anywhere from ten to a few dozen houses as well as military bases were hit. Two civilian casualties and four military casualties(SK Marines: some wounded soldiers said to be critical)

Stock Market and derivatives options can go to hell. We can't let this slide just to sustain the global financial market.

[AU72]

S. Korea reports it has returned fire after shelling from North

I hope Rumsfeld's redeployment of US ground troops away from the border was done.

[tcrlaf]

Someone in the North is trying to provoke the South to war.

And it may not be coming from the Kim’s.