US vows to defend South Korea after attack

GLOBAL leaders have condemned North Korea for provoking an exchange of artillery fire with the South yesterday.

The secretive Stalinist state shelled an island near their disputed sea border, killing at least two South Korean marines, setting dozens of buildings ablaze and sending civilians fleeing for shelter.

The clash, which put South Korea’s military on high alert, was one of the rivals’ most dramatic confrontations since the Korean War ended, and one of the few to put civilians at risk, though no non-military deaths were immediately reported.