23 November 2010 Last updated at 11:07

In pictures: Korean shelling

Plumes of smoke are seen rising from Yeonpyeong

North Korea has shelled South Korea's border island of Yeonpyeong, prompting the South to return fire, in one of the most serious incidents since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

Dozens of shells landed on the island, damaging houses and sending plumes of thick smoke into the air. Two South Korean marines were killed and a number of people on the island were injured.

A man in Seoul watches a TV screen showing plumes of smoke rising from Yeonpyeong

Shocked South Koreans watched the incident on TV, as the South's military was placed on its highest non-wartime alert.

South Korean marines disembark from a military personnel carrier during a drill on Yeonpyeong island. Photo: June 2009

South Korea has staged a series of military exercises on the island, angering the secretive government in Pyongyang.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (left) listens to Defence Minister Kim Tae-young (second right) during the urgent security conference

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took advice from his ministers during an emergency conference.

South Koreans watch the news on television at Seoul railway station

South Koreans - pictured here at a railway station in Seoul - watched events nervously. YTN TV reported that several houses were on fire and shells were still being fired on the island.

Residents of the South Korean Yeonpyeong Island arrive having taken the ferry to the mainland port of Incheon.

Many of the 1,500 residents of the heavily militarised island took cover in shelters, others decided the risk was too great, and took the ferry to the mainland port of Incheon.

South Koreans watch smoke raising from South Korea's Yeonpyeong island near the border with North Korea

The skirmish, watched by South Koreans from the shoreline, comes just six weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il unveiled his youngest son Kim Jong-un as his heir apparent.

US special envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth speaks to the media in Tokyo. Photo: 22 November 2010

The incident also comes after Pyongyang showed off what it claimed was a new uranium enrichment facility. The move prompted US special envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth to rule out the resumption of six-party talks on resolving the nuclear issue.

Asia-Pacific

In pictures: Korean shelling

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