The allies are expected to begin large-scale annual military drills in early March, which the North calls preparations for war and routinely vows retaliation over.
Saturday`s firing, heard from the island of Baengnyeong, was probably aimed in a northwestern direction from the North`s shore as part of an exercise, a South Korean defense ministry official said by telephone, asking not to be named.
The South`s office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff later said there were several rounds of artillery fire, revising a comment by the ministry official that there had been a single shot, and there were no other unusual movements by the North`s military.
South Korea suspended the operation of a jointly run factory park in the North, closing what had been the last window of regular interaction born out of a summit meeting in 2000, when leaders pledged to work for peace and reconciliation.
The area is near the scene of the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in 2010 that the South blames on the North, although Pyongyang denies any role.
The island of Baengnyeong sits just a few kilometers (miles) from the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL) border and less than 20 km (12 miles) at its closest point to the North`s shore.
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