North Korea, which this week bombed one of the islands, staged the apparent firing drill hours after warning that a looming US-South Korean naval exercise meant "the peninsula is inching closer to the brink of war".

Many residents on the wind-swept outposts tried to flee on crowded ferries to the mainland or stocked up on emergency supplies, terrified that the unpredictable North may unleash another deadly barrage of shells and rockets.

On Tuesday, the communist state bombarded Yeonpyeong -- a tiny fishing and garrison island of 2,000 people within line of sight of North Korea's coast, where artillery positions are dug into the craggy cliff-faces.

The surprise attack, the first of its kind since the 1950-53 Korean war, killed four people, wounded 18 and reduced 20 buildings to charred rubble.

By Friday most people had joined the panicked exodus from the island, piling on to ferries that made the three-hour trip to port across choppy seas and leaving behind just a few hold-outs and the hundreds of soldiers based there.

Parts of Yeonpyeong island resembled a war zone Friday, an AFP correspondent reported. Stray dogs in the streets begged for food amid ruined buildings along streets littered with glass and stray household items left behind.

Islanders on even more distant outposts feared they may be next, as the North kept up its firey rhetoric, two days before a US aircraft carrier battle group joins South Korea's navy for a four-day joint exercise.

Pyongyang's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea warned that the North's army would bring "a shower of dreadful fire" if its enemies encroached upon its "dignity and sovereignty even in the least".

Residents were on knife's edge on Baengnyeong island, located near the spot where, according to a multinational expert panel, a North Korean submarine in March torpedoed a South Korean warship, killing all 46 sailors on board.

"It feels like calm before the storm, ahead of the US-South Korea joint exercise that will begin Sunday," a 37-year-old local government official, who said his surname was Kim, told AFP by phone.

"After seeing what happened to Yeonpyeong island, many residents feel nervous and they want to get off this island."

Located just 11 kilometres (6.9 miles) from the North Korean coast, Baengnyeong island is even closer to North Korea than the island targeted Tuesday, and also close to the disputed sea border between North and South.

Kim said he had tried and failed to buy ferry tickets to send his wife and children to the mainland as the 350-seat service -- halved to just one trip a day amid the heightened tensions-- was fully booked.

"I told my wife to stock up on drinking water, instant food and blankets."

Kim Jung-Sun, an employee at the Paengnyeong administration office, said: "We are adding to emergency supplies such as food, blankets and candles which have been already stored in some 50 emergency shelters across the island."

He said that, thanks to monthly air raid drills, residents were well-acquainted with how to act if they come under fire.

Another resident said the sea was largely empty, except for some Chinese fishing boats that had taken advantage of the distraction to poach fish, before they were chased off by South Korean patrol boats.

earlier related report
S.Korea boosts defences as North warns of more strikes
Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea (AFP) Nov 26, 2010 - South Korea said Thursday it would send more troops and guns to frontline islands, as North Korea warned it could follow up this week's deadly shelling with more attacks.

Pyongyang's fresh warning came as a US aircraft carrier headed for the tense peninsula to join war games to be staged as a show of force to the nuclear-armed communist state.

Seoul is expected to name a new defence minister Friday after the incumbent Kim Tae-Young resigned following growing criticism that the South's military and government reacted too softly to the assault.

The North's unprecedented artillery bombardment of Yeonpyeong island on Tuesday killed two marines and two civilians, injured 18 more people and turned homes into charred ruins.

The government said Thursday it would revise its rules of engagement, allowing troops to hit back harder if necessary.

The attack on Tuesday was the first time the North had shelled a civilian area since the 1950-53 war.

It provoked the worst crisis on the peninsula in years, with the international community agonising over how to respond. South Korea and the United States, among others, pressed China to rein in its neighbour.

The North accused the United States and its "warmongering South Korean puppets" of provoking the attack. It said South Korea's military in an exercise fired shells within what the North claims as its own waters.

The regime said that if the South commits "another reckless military provocation, our army will carry out second and third rounds of powerful physical retaliatory strikes without hesitation".

On the island hit by the North's fiery hail of rockets and missiles, grim-faced soldiers trudged through broken glass, debris and the blackened wreckage of homes.

Authorities were evacuating most of the remaining residents. Hundreds of terrified islanders fled soon after the surprise bombardment.

Stung by criticism from newspapers crying for revenge, the South said the current "rather passive" rules of engagement would be completely revised.

The military will reinforce ground forces, especially on five border islands, and set different levels of counter-attack "depending on whether attacks are targeted against civilians or the military", the presidential office said.

The South's military said it believed it had inflicted serious damage on the North in the incident, Yonhap news agency reported.

"As we responded with 80 shells from K-9 howitzers in a pinpointed attack, North Korea is expected to have suffered severe damage," Yonhap quoted Lieutenant Colonel Ju Jong-Wha as saying.

Marines based on Yeonpyeong also defended themselves from criticism that they had responded with too little, too late after the surprise attack.

World powers are struggling to draw up a response to the latest actions by a regime that has in recent years staged two nuclear tests and fired long-range missiles.

It is also accused of sinking a South Korean warship in March with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it denies.

Many observers believe the attack was meant to highlight the military credentials of heir apparent Kim Jong-Un, youngest son of leader Kim Jong-Il.

North Korean state television and radio interspersed repeated broadcasts of official statements about the shelling with martial music Thursday, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported.

A senior Seoul government official, speaking to foreign reporters on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday's attack must have been ordered by leader Kim in person.

The official said that in order to forestall a war or an additional provocation "it's crucial for us to reinforce our military readiness and send a very serious message to North Korea -- so that they can make a correct judgment in the future."

Seoul, he said without elaborating, "will not hesitate to use all kinds of measures" following any future attack.

Seoul also wants to review its current agreement to consult the US-led United Nations Command before using South Korean aircraft in combat.

US President Barack Obama has pledged to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with ally South Korea, where 28,500 American troops are stationed.

But in the tense standoff, the United States and its allies face few appealing choices, analysts say -- resuming talks, which could be seen as rewarding aggression; easing the tone and risking further provocation; or toughening its position at the risk of sparking a full-blown war.

"This is the land of lousy options... You can choose between bad, worse and the worst," former diplomat Victor Cha told a group of fellow analysts.

China has refrained from strongly criticising its ally over the attack.

Instead, its foreign ministry expressed "concern" over plans for the joint US-South Korean naval exercises, saying: "We oppose any act that undermines peace and stability on the peninsula."

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