On a more serious note this is one of the most dangerous moments in relations between the two Koreas in almost 60 years at the moment when the politics in the two countries - with a (relatively) hardline right-wing government in Seoul and a tense succession in Pyongyang - are not at their most stable.

At the moment the shooting has stopped, but if North Korea is sticking by its story that the South fired first, then it almost has to retaliate against the South's counter-attack, and that could lead into a general war. I have no doubt that Beijing are on the phone to Pyongyang right now telling them to cool it.