South Korea has ordered civilians of Yeonpyeong Island, which borders North Korea in the north, to evacuate to shelters amid “apparent signs of a military provocation” by Pyongyang, South Korean news agency reported on Friday, citing officials.
The emergency evacuation order was issued at 12:02 p.m. local time (03:02 GMT) and repeated at 12:30 p.m. local time (03:30 GMT) on Friday at the request of the South Korean military, the report cited the local county office as saying.
“We announced the evacuation after receiving a call from a military unit saying it was carrying out a maritime strike on Yeongpyeong Island as it has a situation with a North Korean provocation,” the official was quoted as saying.
