The South Korean air force conducted live-fire drills to practice intercepting cruise missiles and responding with guided bomb strikes into enemy territory on Thursday, simulating a conflict with North Korea.

The ROK training was held as part of its joint Freedom Shield exercises with the U.S., which are scheduled to run through next week, and came after North Korea said it held its own military exercises on attacking South Korean guard posts the day before.

“The ROK air force conducted air-to-air and air-to-ground live-fire training at the West Sea maritime firing range to overwhelmingly respond to complex provocations such as