SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired Wednesday artillery shells into waters off the west coast, an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said.

South Korean military fired back, but there has been no casualties or damage reported as the two sides fired into the air and not at each other, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency reported quoting government sources.

Military authorities in Seoul are still in the process of confirming whether South Korean military responded to the DPRK by firing back, the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Xinhua.

The move came a day after the DPRK declared two no-sail zones in waters south of the disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea called the Northern Limit Line, where the latest naval skirmish between the two Koreas took place in November last year.