SEOUL - The military of Republic of Korea (ROK) will revise its rules of engagement to give it more elbow room when confronting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the defense ministry reportedly said Tuesday.

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The potential changes would allow the military to determine the intensity of its counterattack based on the perceived threat level and damage done, the ministry was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying in a report submitted to the parliament.

They would also give more voice to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who controls peacetime military operation, and differentiate attacks on the military and those on civilians.

The existing rules dictate that the ROK forces respond "proportionately" to an enemy attack with the same kind of weapons the enemy uses.

The decision comes after the exchange of fire last week between the two Koreas near a disputed western maritime border, which killed two South Korean marines and two civilians.

The military here has come under public criticism for its perceived slow response to the DPRK's artillery bombardment on a border island, the first time the South Korean soil and civilians were targeted since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.