SEOUL, South Korea  Naval patrol boats of North and South Korea exchanged fire in disputed waters off the western coast of the Korean Peninsula on Tuesday, the South Korean military said.

“Our high-speed patrol boat repelled the North Korean patrol boat,” the South Korean Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. “We are fully prepared for further provocations from the North Korean military.”

The skirmish Tuesday preceded by only a few days President Obama’s scheduled departure on a trip to Asia, which includes a stop in Seoul and a meeting with President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea next week.

North Korea’s nuclear program is likely to be a prominent topic of the American president’s talks here and elsewhere.