S. Korea dismisses North’s denial of border shelling

South Korea yesterday dismissed a denial by North Korea that it twice carried out shelling along the flashpoint Yellow Sea border, which fuelled already high tensions.

Seoul said its marines fired warning shots on Wednesday after North Korea fired shells twice near the disputed frontier, which has seen bloody naval skirmishes in recent years and a deadly artillery attack last November.

The North’s military, in a cross-border message early yesterday, hit out at Seoul for “faking up” the incident saying “normal blasting” took place as part of construction work. The South’s defence ministry rejected the North’s claim as “routine and unnatural”, saying a frontline observation post clearly saw the shells landing near the border.

Of five shells fired by North Korea, three fell north of the border – known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL) – and two landed close to it, prompting warning shots from marines based on Yeonpyeong island, a ministry spokesman said.

“Soldiers using observing equipment identified the spots where the shells landed,” he said.