Shelling reported between North and South Korea

The explosions just hundreds of meters into the South’s portion of the inter-Korean Demilitarized Zone left two soldiers in need of leg amputations.

North Korea fired a projectile at South Korea on Thursday, before its southern neighbour returned fire across the border with dozens of shells minutes later.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said surveillance equipment had detected the trajectories of suspected North Korean rockets and that it was investigating whether the North had fired at South Korea. They did not say what kind of weapons were used.

“Our side staged a counter-attack with dozens of 155mm shells”, a South Korea ministry spokesman told the AFP news agency.

“The ball is in North Korea’s court now after South Korea retaliated with shells”, Koh Yu Hwan, professor of North Korea studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said by phone.

Civilians were also being evacuated from the border area, as the government announced that it would convene an emergency session of the National Security Council.

The initial shot fired by North Korea at around 4.00pm (8.00am BST) was aimed at a South Korean loudspeaker that has been blaring anti-Pyongyang broadcasts in recent days, South Korean media reported.

The broadcasts were suspended in 2004 as part of an inter-Korean agreement.

The incident coincides with the start of military exercises, always a time of heightened tension on the peninsula. The North Korean state news agency called the broadcasts “a grave military provocation” and threatened an all-out military response.