Pentagon Postpones Missile Test

Doesn't want to worsen relations with North Korea

The United States has decided to delay a long-planned missile test scheduled for next week out of California "to avoid any misperception or miscalculation", given tensions with North Korea, a senior US defence official has said.

The unusual precaution by the US follows a barrage of hostile rhetoric from North Korea - including the threat of open war - that has created jitters in South Korea's financial markets.