South Korea will soon carry out a live fire artillery drill on the island shelled last month by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced Thursday.

The planned drill will be conducted in waters south-west of Yeonpyeong island near the disputed western maritime border between the two Koreas on a selected day from Dec. 18-21 depending on weather conditions, JCS said in a statement.

The routine exercise is a legitimate one that abides by the armistice agreement signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, and will be made public, JCS said.

The firing exercise was canceled after the DPRK bombarded Yeonpyeong on Nov. 23 in what Seoul said was an unprovoked attack, killing two marines and two civilians.

The DPRK claimed the attack was for self-defense and provoked by South Korean shelling near the disputed sea border it never acknowledged.