No reprisals for South Korean drill

There was no immediate sign of any North Korean military response during the drill.

The South evacuated hundreds of residents near its land border with the North and sent residents of islands near disputed waters into underground bunkers amid fears of war.

UN diplomats meeting in New York failed to find any solution to the crisis, but there was some sign of diplomacy yesterday, as a high-profile American governor announced what he said were two nuclear concessions from the North.

The live-fire exercises came nearly a month after the North responded to earlier manoeuvres by shelling Yeonpyeong island, killing two marines and two civilians in its first attack targeting civilian areas since the 1950-53 Korean War.