The rival Koreas continue to blame each other for provoking the engagement in the Yellow Sea. (AFP)

South Korean troops have been placed on high alert for possible retaliation from the North following Tuesday's brief naval clash along their disputed western sea border.

The clash was the first such engagement in seven years, reportedly leading to the death of at least one North Korean sailor and stoking fresh tensions between the rival Koreas.

Kim Tae-young, South Korea's defence minister, said he believed the North may take retaliatory action and said the president had ordered the military onto a heightened state of alert.

South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said in a statement that a North Korean patrol boat crossed the disputed border line in the Yellow Sea before noon on Tuesday, drawing warning shots from a South Korean navy vessel.

According to the South the North Korean boat then opened fire and the South's ship returned fire before the North's vessel sailed back toward its waters, apparently badly damaged.

The naval clash occurred just hours before the Obama administration confirmed it was sending a senior envoy to North Korea for direct bilateral talks on the country's nuclear programme.

Stephen Bosworth will visit Pyongyang at a date yet to be announced but most likely by the end of the year, US officials said.

According to South Korean officials, the North Korean ship was on fire and heavily damaged following the clash.

Officials also said the South Korean ship was slightly damaged but suffered no casualties.

The Koreas blame each other for causing the skirmish in the rich crab-fishing area, where both sides regularly accuse the other of border violations.

North Korea's military said its ship was attacked by South Korean vessels as it was returning from checking on "an unidentified object that intruded" into its waters.

Chung Un-chan, the South Korean prime minister, said the North may have been trying to clamp down on Chinese fishing vessels in the area, and probably did not intend to violate the border.

However, some South Korean analysts say the North Korea was sending a message ahead of next week's tour of Asia by Barack Obama, the US president.

Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman, told the Associated Press that the US administration was aware of the clash and urged North Korea not to escalate tensions.

Al Jazeera