North Korea has fired artillery covers across its western maritime border line

North Korea has fired artillery shells throughout its western maritime border, prompting return fire from South Korea, officials say. howcast vehicle insurance

Dozens from the shells landed on a South Korean island, from which plumes of smoke are increasing. At the very least four soldiers are said to have been damage.

South Korea has issued its highest non-wartime alert in response.

Correspondents say this really is probably the most critical incidents among the two since the Korean War from the 1950s.

Leading leaders are assembly in an underground bunker in Seoul through the incident, Reuters information agency noted.

The incident comes days soon after North Korea revealed it had a modern day uranium enrichment plant - probably giving it a second route to a nuclear weapon.

Earlier, the US ruled out more denuclearisation talks though Pyongyang continued to function around the facility.
'Illegal firing'

South Korean officials said artillery rounds landed on Yeonpyeong island, near the disputed inter-Korean maritime border to the west from the Korean Peninsula.

"A North Korean artillery unit staged an illegal firing provocation at 1434 PM (0534 GMT) and South Korean troops fired back without delay in self-defence," a defence ministry spokesman informed AFP.

A resident around the island informed the agency that dozens of homes had been broken, though television photographs reportedly showed plumes of smoke increasing over the island.

"Houses and mountains are on fire and folks are evacuating. You cannot see quite perfectly as a result of plumes of smoke," a witness around the island informed YTN television station.

"People are frightened to death and shelling continues as we converse," the witness said.

South Korea had deployed fighter jets to the island, Yonhap information agency said.

This western maritime border has been the scene of several clashes among the two Koreas from the previous.

In March, a South Korean warship went down near the border together with the lack of 46 lives.

Worldwide investigators say a North Korean torpedo sank the ship, even though Pyongyang denies any role from the incident.

Since then relations among the two neighbours - who have not signed a peace treaty since the 1950-53 Korean War - are already quite tense.