SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK) plans to strengthen its deterrence against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) by better readying itself for "regional provocations and asymmetrical threats", the defense chief said Tuesday.

"We have partially readjusted our priority when it comes to enhancing military capability to be better prepared for regional provocations and asymmetrical threats from the enemy," defense minister Kim Kwan-jin told reporters in a press briefing, referring to the DPRK.

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To that end, the country will introduce unmanned reconnaissance drones and stealth fighter jets to bolster surveillance capability and build up military forces to better deter possible submarine infiltration attempts, Kim said.

A new command in charge of protecting the five front-line western border islands will be created in deterrence potential attacks from the DPRK, the minister said, adding the move will enhance strategic effectiveness and interoperability.

The plans are part of a slew of measures for military reform, drawn up amid heightened military tension between the two Koreas after Pyongyang's alleged sinking of a ROK warship and artillery shelling of an inhabited border island, which altogether killed 50 South Koreans.

The DPRK has denied its involvement in the sinking and claimed the shelling was a self-defensive act against joint military drills between Seoul and Washington near a contentious western sea border Pyongyang never acknowledged.