Distant Artillery Fire Rattles South Korea

Artillery fire from North Korea was audible on the South Korean island bombarded earlier this week, frightening residents and officials. The firing seems to have been contained to North Korean territory and it appears to have been either a drill or an attempt to rattle the garrison on Yeonpyeong island, the New York Times reports.

The shots, the first heard since Tuesday's deadly attack, came hours after the top US commander in Korea visited the island to survey the damage. Most of the island residents have been evacuated and the few dozen who remain fled to emergency shelters when the shelling was heard. North Korea had earlier threatened "a shower of fire" in response to joint US-South Korea military exercises scheduled to start Sunday.