朝鲜和韩国星期三在黄海交界水域发生交火，导致局势紧张，星期四双方相互指责。朝鲜在官方通讯社发表声明，断然否认韩国指其星期三发射多发炮弹因而引发交火的指控。朝鲜说，韩国一定是将边界附近一处建筑施工地点的爆炸作业误当作炮击。
韩国官员说，朝鲜开炮的事实无庸置疑，并指朝鲜一贯否认其挑衅行为，不足为信。联合国秘书长潘基文周四在首尔对记者说，对朝鲜和韩国炮兵交火感到关切和遗憾。他说，这显示朝鲜半岛的局势仍然不稳定。
North and South Korea traded verbal volleys Thursday, a day after an artillery exchange in waters near their Yellow Sea border caused tensions to spike.North Korea, in a statement released on its official news agency, flatly denied South Korean charges that it fired off a handful of artillery shells, sparking Wednesday’s exchange. It said the South must have been confused by blasting at a construction site near the border.
South Korean officials responded there is no doubt that the North fired the shots, and dismissed its claims as typical of a country that routinely denies its provocations. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, speaking to reporters in Seoul on Thursday, said the artillery exchange left him concerned and regretful. He said the exchange shows the situation on the Korean peninsula remains unstable.