North Korea: US Missile Test Delayed Amid Row

The US has delayed the testing of an intercontinental ballistic missile over the growing tensions with North Korea, according to a defence official.

A Pentagon source said the Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to postpone the long-planned Minuteman 3 launch until next month because of concerns it would exacerbate the crisis.

North Korea's military warned this week it was authorised to attack the US using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons.

South Korean officials said the North has moved at least one missile with "considerable range" to its east coast - possibly the untested Musudan missile, believed to have a range of 1,800 miles.

The US has been carrying out joint military exercises in the area with South Korea involving warships and bombers.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the US was right to cancel the launch and that a "calm and united" response is needed to North Korea's "frenetic rhetoric".

The US brought forward deployment of a Global Hawk spy plane to Japan

He said there was no evidence the country was preparing for all-out conflict.

He told Sky's Murnaghan show: "We have not seen evidence of redeployment or repositioning of troops on the ground.

"All the evidence is that this rhetoric is about the regime in North Korea, just its actions and existence rather than positioning for all-out conflict on the Korean peninsula or elsewhere."

Mr Hague also backed Prime Minister David Cameron's suggestion that North Korea's threats show why Britain must make plans for a successor to its Trident nuclear deterrent.

Sky News Asia Correspondent Mark Stone says the postponement of the US missile launch marks a change in approach.

He said: "Two weeks ago the US military was issuing media releases announcing the deployment of B52 and B2 bombers to the region, as a show of strength and North Korea's response was to increase its own bellicose statements.

"China and Russia have collectively called on both North Korea and America to back down and in the past few days there have been signs that the Americans are altering their stance."

Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry expressed "grave concern" about escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula and asked for assurances about the safety of its diplomats.

China's President said no country should throw "the whole world into chaos"

And Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to up the pressure on Pyongyang when he said in a speech that no country "should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain".

North Korea held its most recent nuclear test in February and in December launched a long-range rocket that potentially could hit the continental US.

It has been angered by increasing sanctions and the exercises which are scheduled to continue to the end of the month.

This week, the US said two of its missile-defence ships were being moved closer to the Korean peninsula and a land-based system was being deployed to the Pacific territory of Guam later this month.

And deployment of an unmanned spy plane to northern Japan was brought forward to boost US surveillance after North Korean threats.

Japan will further boost its defences by ordering its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, according to press reports.

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