US and South Korea postpone military drills

The US and South Korea will postpone joint air drills in an “act of goodwill” towards North Korea, Mark Esper, the US defence secretary, said yesterday, after months of deadlocked diplomacy with Pyongyang.

North Korea has long objected to the joint military drills, which it condemns as preparations for invasion, and has set Washington an end-of-year deadline to come up with a new offer on its weapons programmes.

The US and South Korea last year cancelled several joint drills in the wake of the Singapore summit.