US delays ballistic missile test due to tensions on Korean Peninsula

WASHINGTON (Xinhua) - The Pentagon has delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test planned for next week to avoid misperceptions due to the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, local media reported on Saturday.

The planned Minuteman 3 missile test at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California will be delayed until sometime next month, so to avoid exacerbating the crisis on the Korean Peninsula, a senior US defense official was quoted as saying.

The official described the decision as "the logical, prudent and responsible course of action to take," after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) threatened to attack the US with "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons in reaction to the recent US-South Korean military exercises.

Following the nuclear test by the DPRK in February, the US responded with economic sanctions and a recent show of force of sending nuclear-cable stealth B-2 bombers and F-22 fighters to participate in the military exercises with South Korea.

The DPRK reacted by cutting off military hotlines with South Korea, declaring a state of war, and threatening to launch a nuclear attack on the US targets.