South Korean Marines staged a live-fire drill on Wednesday near the disputed Yellow Sea border with North Korea.
The maneuvers involved self-propelled howitzers and a multiple rocket launch system was held on two islands, Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong, the military said.
Hundreds of island residents were evacuated into safe zones during the two-hour drill.
There was no response from the North, AFP reported.
A similar drill on Yeonpyeong in 2010 provoked a North Korean artillery barrage which killed four people.
The Japanese Coast Guard reported that three Chinese maritime surveillance vessels have sailed into the territorial waters of disputed islands in the South China Sea, the first such intrusion since Japan elected its new government, AFP reported.
The ships were spotted northwest of Kubajima Island, in the archipelago dubbed Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China, at around 10:20am local time (0120 GMT).
Chinese government ships have repeatedly entered the waters since September. Analysts believe that China is challenging Japan’s de facto control of the islands for the past 40 years.
Violence erupted in Ivory Coast as fighters supporting Alassane Ouattara captured several cities and moved on Abidjan, the last major stronghold of Laurent Gbagbo. Ouattara and incumbent President Gbagbo have battled since Oauttara decisively won the November election, but Gbagbo has refused to concede. Margaret Warner reports.
Forces loyal to democratically elected president Alassane Ouattara are pressing into Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan, in a bid to wrest control of the country from incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to relinquish his post.
But one of Gbagbo’s advisers said he would not resign: “He will not resign in the wake of this attack. He is not going to abdicate. He is not going to lay down his arms. He will stay in power to lead the resistance to this attack against Ivory Coast,” said Toussaint Alain in Paris, according to the Associated Press.
According to the United Nations, at least 462 people have been killed since Gbagbo refused to cede power after the majority of voters in November chose Ouattara as their next leader.
Meanwhile, Gen. Edouard Kassarate, who is in charge of the country’s police, has defected, and army chief Phillippe Mangou has taken refuge in the South African ambassador’s residence in Abidjan, reported the Christian Science Monitor.
In addition to moving into Abidjan, forces supporting Ouattara, who call themselves the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast, have taken control of the key port city of San Pedro and the nation’s capital, Yamoussoukro.
An eyewitness, long-time Abidjan resident Nfor Susungi, reported hearing heavy gunfire in distant parts of the city and in other places seeing oddly quiet streets, according to the BBC.
