North Korea used artillery to attack a South Korean island this morning, killing two South Korean marines and prompting return fire from the South. Now the world is tensely waiting to see if hostilities in the Korean War, which never officially ended, have resumed. Forces on the Korean peninsula have been placed on high alert, according to reports.

By the way, this morning’s attack wasn’t small. The Washington Post:

North Korea launched a massive artillery barrage on a South Korean island Tuesday, killing two South Korean marines, wounding at least 14 others and setting more than 60 buildings ablaze in the most serious confrontation since the North’s sinking of a South Korean submarine in March.

South Korea immediately responded with its own artillery barrage and put its fighter jets on high alert, bringing the two sides – which technically have remained in a state of war since the Korean armistice in 1953 – close to the brink of a major conflagration.

South Korea called the shelling of the civilian-inhabited island of Yeonpyeong, which lies near the disputed maritime border separating North and South Korea, a breach of the 57-year-old armistice that halted the Korean War without a peace agreement.

The North fired an estimated 200 artillery shells onto the island, and the South returned fire with about 80 shells from its own howitzers. The attack began just after 2:30 p.m.

Dozens of homes caught fire on the island, residents were left in chaos, more than a dozen South Korean soldiers were injured, and two marines were killed. There’s actually video of the attack here.

South Korea warns that any further artillery firings will result in a “stern retaliation”. China, North Korea’s ally, is calling for all sides to return to Six Party Talks and Russia is warning against escalation. Washington says it stands by the South and calls for an end to the North’s “belligerent action”.

South Korea is reportedly considering a UN resolution condemning Pyongyang. Because that’ll sting, or something.