America has delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test to avoid stoking tensions with North Korea, as fears escalated that weeks of angry rhetoric could erupt into conflict on the Korean peninsula.
Kim Jong-un's image makers seek to portray the leader as a tough guy with his finger on the nuclear trigger
The Pentagon's disclosure that it would reschedule the intercontinental
missile test due in California next week comes as the international
community grows increasingly nervous that the situation could spiral out of
control.
A US defence official said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel postponed the
Minuteman 3 test at Vandenberg Air Force Base until next month due to
concerns it "might be misconstrued by some as suggesting that we were
intending to exacerbate the current crisis with North Korea".
"We wanted to avoid that misperception or manipulation," a US
official said. "We are committed to testing our ICBMs to ensure a safe,
secure, effective nuclear arsenal."
North Korea, incensed by UN sanctions following its nuclear and missile tests
and by South Korean-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic
threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.
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