Outcry as N Korea bombards islanders

The Prime Minister discussed the latest flare-up on one of the most sensitive borders in the world in a scheduled telephone call with United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon – himself a South Korean.

"There was strong agreement that North Korea's unprovoked act had been totally unacceptable," a Number 10 spokeswoman said.

"They urged restraint and agree that next steps should include discussion in the United Nations Security Council."

At least two South Korean marines were killed and 16 soldiers and three civilians injured in one of the most serious incidents involving the two countries since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

According to South Korean officials, the skirmish began when the North ordered the South to halt military exercises in the area.

When the South refused and began firing artillery into disputed waters between the two countries, but away from the North Korean shore, the North responded by bombarding the island of Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations and a small civilian population. The incident came after North Korea revealed a previously secret new uranium enrichment facility to foreign observers.

Foreign Secretary William Hague, MP for Richmond, issued a statement, calling on the North Koreans to cease their "unprovoked" attacks.

"The UK strongly condemns North Korea's unprovoked attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong Island," he said.

"Such unprovoked attacks will only lead to further tensions on the Korean Peninsula. We strongly urge North Korea to refrain from such attacks and adhere to the Korean Armistice agreement.

"I welcome (South Korean) President Lee Myung-bak's call for restraint."

Shadow Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, MP for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford, said: "I completely condemn North Korea's aggression and the loss of life from this attack.

"While North Korea continues to act like an international outsider, all other countries must stand together to show its behaviour is unacceptable."

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who convened an emergency security meeting shortly after the initial bombardment, said: "Enormous retaliation should be made to the extent that (North Korea) cannot make provocations again."

South Korea holds military exercises off the west coast about every three months.

The supreme military command in the North's capital, Pyongyang, threatened more strikes if the South crossed the maritime border by "even 0.001 millimetre," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The North said it was merely "reacting to the military provocation of the puppet group with a prompt powerful physical strike," and accused Seoul of starting the skirmish with its "reckless military provocation as firing dozens of shells inside the territorial waters of the" North.

Government officials in Seoul called the bombardments "inhumane atrocities" that violated the 1953 armistice halting the Korean War.

The two sides technically remain at war because a peace treaty was never signed, and nearly two million troops – including tens of thousands from the United States – are positioned on both sides of the world's most heavily militarised border.

The exchange came amid high tensions over the North's apparent progress in its quest for nuclear weapons – Pyongyang claims it has a new uranium enrichment facility.

The United States also condemned the shelling.

Crab island flashpoint

Yeonpyeong lies only seven miles from – and within sight of – the North Korean mainland.

Yeonpyeong, known for its crabbing industry and home to about 1,700 civilians as well as South Korean military installations. There are about 30 other small islands nearby.

The Koreas have fought three bloody skirmishes on the disputed border in recent years.

In March, a South Korean warship was sunk while on a routine patrol. Forty-six sailors were killed in what South Korea calls the worst military attack on the country since the war. Seoul blamed a North Korean torpedo, but Pyongyang denied responsibility.