South Korean islanders living under the shadow of the North’s guns dream of a peaceful future

Yeonpyeong, a small island just 12km from the North Korean coast, still bears the scars of a deadly 2010 artillery attack but residents there hope the latest meeting between the two sides can bring them a sense of security

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The remains of a house destroyed in North Korea’s 2010 attack on Yeonpyeong island. Photo: Kim Jae-hwan

Published: 12:04am, 18 Sep 2018Updated: 9:26pm, 18 Sep 2018

Eight years on from the surprise attack, the South Korean island’s unhealed scars are still visible in the form of shattered houses, broken furniture and burnt tree stumps.

In November 2010, residents of Yeonpyeong, an island in the Yellow Sea that lies just 12km (seven miles) from the North Korean coast, ran out of their houses screaming in terror as an artillery barrage opened up without warning, killing four people – two of them civilians – and wounding 60.

The decision to preserve signs of the damage is the islanders’ way of remembering the attack, in which 292 buildings were damaged and 47 hectares of forest set on fire.

Next to the shattered concrete walls and the debris piled outside the skeletal remains of buildings in Yeonpyeong-ri, a two-storey “security education centre” has been built to commemorate the events.

The exhibition centre does not just commemorate the 2010 attack – it also recalls a string of North Korean provocations, including two deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002 and the sinking of the warship Cheonan, with the loss of 46 sailors.

The island’s fishermen are hoping for a peace zone at sea. Photo: Kim Jae-hwan

But despite its history and the tremendous tension that living so close to the North generates, the islanders are keen to give peace another chance.