SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) — An artillery fire from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was heard near a South Korean border island in western waters, Yonhap news agency reported Saturday citing military authorities.

A South Korean military official was quoted as saying that one round of artillery fire was heard from the northern region of South Korea's Baengnyeong Island near the western maritime border.

The artillery round hasn't landed in the South Korean territorial waters. No additional fire was heard since then, according to the report.

South Korea's military estimated that the DPRK forces may have conducted firing drills near the inter-Korean sea boundary.

Residents in the border island had been evacuated after the artillery fire, but they have resumed normal lives now, local broadcaster YTN reported.

The South Korean military is closely monitoring additional provocations from the DPRK, it said.