Warships in the Korean Peninsula exchanged artillery fire Thursday in the disputed areas off the western coast, in the latest indication of the intensifying hostility between the opposing countries, South Korean military officials reported. 

Spokespersons from Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Defense Ministry stated that one of their navy ships was doing its routine patrol near the disputed maritime border line of the two countries in the Yellow Sea when a navy ship from North Korea fired two artillery shells.  

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The authorities said that the shells missed the South Korean ship and they just fell in the waters nearby. 

The official, who did not disclose his name because of office guidelines, said that the South Korean ship then launched several rounds of artillery in the waters near the area where the North Korean ship is located. 

Seoul was attempting to find out if Pyongyang's ship had tried to hit their vessel but missed, or if the artillery shells were not really meant to target them. 

Officials also narrated that the residents living on Yeonpyeon Island, the nearest settlement area in the disputed waters, were evacuated to shelters, and the fishing vessels in the nearby area were asked to go back to the ports. In 2012, Pyongyang shot the island, killing two marines and two civilians. 

Both countries conduct regular artillery drills in the disputed waters. There are no clear indicators of the sea boundary, and the vicinity had been the site of three bloody naval encounters between the opposing Koreas since 1999. 

In the recent weeks, Pyongyang had conducted a series of artillery drills and missile testing, and had launched a surge of sexist and racist statements against the leaders of Seoul and the US. 

North Korean military ships and fishing vessels have regularly intruded into the South Korean-managed waters that the North do not want to recognize. The boundary in the Yellow Sea was independently set by the US-led UN Command during the conclusion of the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.