North Korean attack to south korean

Four people are now known to have died in the North Korean bombardment of South Korea's Yellow Sea island.
North Korea, which has blamed South Korean live-fire naval exercises for its bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island, warned on Wednesday that South Korea was worsening ties with its "reckless military provocations" and its decision to cut off humanitarian aid.

The decision to send the nuclear-powered USS Washington, with its 75 warplanes and 6,000-strong crew, immediately angered North Korea and is likely to unnerve China which objected strenuously to similar US plans earlier this year.

China has refused to issue an outright condemnation of Tuesday's attack but was coming under increasing pressure from the US and Japan to be more proactive in using its influence to curb Pyongyang's belligerence.

Japan also publicly echoed the US's private calls for China to be more forceful in using its economic and political leverage to make North Korea adhere to the norms of international behaviour.

North Korea blames South Korea for latest attack

North Korea has blamed South Korea for starting an exchange of artillery across their border in the Yellow Sea, as it threatened "merciless" strikes against its neighbour. The attack on Yeonpyeong Island is the latest in a long-running game of diplomatic cat and mouse in which North Korea periodically flexes its military muscle in order to try and win concessions from the international community. South Korea warns it will “sternly retaliate” to further provocations after dozens of shells are fired at an island, killing two soldiers.