North Korea fired more than 200 artillery shells near two South Korean islands today, prompting evacuation orders for their residents. A South Korean Defence Ministry official said, the North Korean military conducted over 200 rounds of firing in the areas of Jangsan-got in the northern part of Baengnyeong Island and the northern areas of Yeonpyeong Island. The firing follows repeated warnings from Kim Jong Un's regime in Pyongyang that it is prepared for war against South Korea and its US ally. Yeonpyeong local officials said, civilians have been told to evacuate, describing the order as a preventative measure. <br />''<br />''South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island is situated in the Yellow Sea. It is located approximately 80 kilometres west of Incheon and 12 kilometres south of the coastline of Hwanghae Province, North Korea. Authorities on Baengnyeong Island also reported an evacuation order there. Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in decades, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un enshrined the country's status as a nuclear power into the constitution while test-firing several advanced ICBMs. At Pyongyang's key year-end policy meetings, Kim warned of a nuclear attack on the South and called for a build-up of the country's military arsenal ahead of armed conflict that he warned could "break out any time". Kim accused the United States of posing "various forms of military threat" and ordered his armed forces to maintain the overwhelming war response capability. To deter Pyongyang, Washington deployed a nuclear-powered submarine in the South Korean port city of Busan this month and flew its long-range bombers in drills with Seoul and Tokyo.<br />