South Korea's military says North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells into the Yellow Sea off its western coast on Friday morning.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff says the shells were fired into waters north of the South Korean islands of Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong. It says the firings took place from around 9 to 11 a.m. on Friday.

The shells are said to have landed in the buffer zone north of the de facto maritime border known as the Northern Limit Line. No damage to the South Korean side has been reported.

South Korea's military says it will respond with corresponding measures.

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency says local authorities had ordered civilians in Yeonpyeong to evacuate to shelters.

Yonhap said the evacuation orders were given twice, at 12:02 and 12:30 p.m. on Friday.