A badly damaged North Korean patrol ship retreated in flames on Tuesday after a skirmish with a South Korean naval vessel along their disputed western coast, the first such clash in seven years, South Korean officials said. There were no South Korean casualties, the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, and it was not clear if there were any casualties on the North Korean side.

The exchange of fire occurred as US officials said President Barack Obama has decided to send a special envoy to Pyongyang for rare direct talks on the communist country’s nuclear weapons program. No date has been set for these one-on-one talks . Obama is due in Seoul next week.

“It’s a regrettable incident,” South Korean Commodore Lee Ki-sik said in Seoul. “We are sternly protesting to North Korea and urging it to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.”

North Korea’s military issued a statement blaming South Korea for the “grave armed provocation,” saying its ships crossed into North Korean territory. The North claimed that South Korean warships opened fire but fled after the North’s patrol boat dealt “a prompt retaliatory blow.” The statement, carried on the official Korean Central News Agency, said the South should apologise.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that a North Korean patrol boat crossed the disputed western sea border, drawing warning shots from a South Korean navy vessel. The North Korean boat then opened fire and the South’s ship returned fire. The clash occurred near the South-held island of Daecheong, about 220 km off the port city of Incheon.

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