Updated on
Summary
The South Korean military has been holding live-firing exercises on Yeonpyeong island - the scene of a deadly attack by the North last month. Pyongyang had threatened to retaliate if the drills went ahead. Four people were killed when the North shelled the island during a similar drill last month. The UN Security Council discussed the situation in New York, but failed to reach any agreement. China and Russia called on Seoul to halt the drill. The South's government has been under huge domestic pressure to take a tough stance towards Pyongyang, in the wake of the 23 November shelling by the North. The issue has threatened to divide permanent members of the Security Council - with China and Russia urging South Korea to put off the exercise, but the US saying its ally is entitled to make sure it is properly prepared in the face of... ongoing provocations. Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the international community had been left without a game plan to deal with tensions on the peninsula. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the drills ended after about an hour of its launch, but witnesses said the firing was continuing.Before the firing began, southern military officials said the artillery guns on Yeonpyeong would be aimed south-west, away from North Korea.But the North claimed any ammunition fired would inevitably land in its territorial waters.
