South Korea’s military did not immediately respond to requests for more information. Earlier a newspaper reported that the South’s military was due to resume live-fire drills there.

An official in the Yeonpyeong village office confirmed an evacuation order was issued at the request of the South Korean military.

The military told the village there was firing at sea by the South Korean military after “a situation” near the border, the official said. But it was not clear whether it was a drill or had some other cause.

In 2010, North Korean artillery fired scores of times on Yeonpyeong island, killing four people, including two civilians, in one of the heaviest attacks on its neighbour since the Korean War ended in 1953.

North Korea said at the time it was provoked into the attack by South Korean live-fire drills that dropped shells into its territorial waters.