U.S. armed forces stationed in South Korea have “increased the intensity” of missile defense exercises in response to North Korea’s frequent projectile launches this year, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) announced on Tuesday.

According to a USFK press release, the 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade “validated their armistice and wartime mission requirements” by “moving to a remote location, occupying its wartime defensive position, emplacing the Patriot missile system and executing air and missile defense operations under a simulated combat scenario.”

“While this type of training is routinely conducted by U.S. Patriot batteries across the ROK, its increased intensity of its