S Korea, US conduct military drills despite Pyongyang threats

South Korea and the United States wrapped up their annual large-scale military drills on Sunday, but continued a separate joint naval exercise that has triggered dire threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been running sky-high for weeks, with signs that the North might be preparing a long-range missile launch or a sixth nuclear test and with Washington refusing to rule out a military strike in response.

The massive "Foal Eagle" drill, which the defence ministry in Seoul said was ending as scheduled on Sunday, involved around 20,000 South Korean and 10,000 US troops. Another annual joint exercise known as "Key Resolve" ended last month.

Both play out scenarios for a conflict with North Korea, but Seoul and Washington insists they are purely defensive in nature, despite Pyongyang's claims that they are provocative rehearsals for invasion. Their conclusion normally signals a period of relative calm in North-South tensions, but this year the situation looks set to remain highly volatile.

US President Donald Trump has warned of a possible "major conflict" while Pyongyang has carried out a series of failed missile tests, including one on Saturday, and a massive live- fire military exercise. The South Korean defence ministry confirmed Sunday that a joint naval drill with a US strike group, led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, was still ongoing in the Sea of Japan (East Sea). The exercise, aimed at verifying the allies' capability to track and intercept enemy ballistic missiles, is expected to continue until sometime next week.

Through state media, North Korea has threatened to attack the Carl Vinson, and a state-sponsored website on Sunday also warned of a possible strike against a US nuclear-powered submarine despatched to the area. China is "putting pressure" on its ally North Korea to curb its weapons programmes, Trump told the CBS television network's "Face the Nation" programme. If North Korea carries out another nuclear test "I would not be happy," he said. "I don't believe that the president of China, who is a much respected man, will be happy either," Trump said.