[HIGHLIGHTS] South Korean island near North Korea Local government leader inspects evacuation center, etc.

As North Korea strengthens its stance toward confrontation with South Korea, top local governments visit South Korean islands near the maritime border to check stockpiling of evacuation shelters and communication methods. In November 2010, four people, including soldiers and civilians, were killed on South Korea's Yongpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea on the western side of the Korean Peninsula.

In a speech last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un announced that he would view South Korea as a hostile country rather than a target for unification.