This handout photo taken on August 25, 2019 and provided by South Korean Navy shows South Korean Navy's special forces participating in a military drill re-named "East Sea territory defence training" at the easternmost islets of Dokdo. (PHOTO / AFP)

SEOUL - South Korea's military will conduct a defense drill near the islets disputed with Japan, Yonhap news agency reported Monday citing unnamed government and military sources.

The maritime exercise, called the East Sea Territory Protection Exercise, will be staged Tuesday near the Dokdo islets, called Takeshima in Japan.

The maritime exercise, called the East Sea Territory Protection Exercise, will be staged Tuesday near the Dokdo islets, called Takeshima in Japan

ALSO READ: S. Korea strongly protests against Japan's renewed claims to islets

The exercise, which has been held usually twice a year since 1986, would reportedly mobilize naval and coast guard vessels, fighter jets and maritime patrol aircraft.

No landing drill will be carried out given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Japan has protested against the exercise as it laid territorial claims to the rocky outcroppings lying halfway between South Korea and Japan.

South Korea regained its sovereignty over the islets after liberation from the 1910-1945 Japanese colonization of the Korean Peninsula. The islets were incorporated into Japan during the colonization.

READ MORE: ROK expands army drill around disputed island, Japan protests