Defense Minister Kim Tae-young says if North Koreans fire artillery over the inter-Korean maritime border in the Yellow Sea, the South Korean military will immediately fire back.

The minister announced in a parliamentary meeting Tuesday that the rules of engagement regarding South Korean responses to the firing of North Korean artillery into the South’s territorial waters in the Yellow Sea have been revised.

Previously, the South’s military was required to give the North three verbal warnings before it could fire back.

According to the rules of engagement for land warfare, a North Korean attack on South Korean territory would be met with firepower two to three times that of the force used by the North.

Kim said that even if North Korean attacks on South Korea do not inflict losses, Seoul would regard the attacks as a provocation and would respond immediately.