The South Korean army says it is holding military drills near the heavily fortified border with North Korea this week.

Military officials say the field-training exercises, set to run from Monday through Friday, will be held in the border city of Paju.

Officials say the exercises are designed to examine the military's combat readiness.

South Korea regularly conducts military training across the country and also stages joint exercises with the U.S. military.

North Korea routinely condemns the operations as rehearsals for an invasion, an accusation Seoul and Washington deny.