North Korea has taken a major step back from a planned missile test, US officials said, even as Pyongyang and Seoul exchanged fresh threats Tuesday of swift military retaliation to any provocation. A US defence official said two North Korean missiles -- primed for imminent test firing -- had been moved from their launch site, signalling a possible easing of North Asia tensions ahead of a US-South Korea summit in Washington. US and South Korean officials had been worried that any test of the medium-range Musudan missiles would trigger a fresh surge in military tensions that have included threats of nuclear war from Pyongyang. But the US defence official said on condition of anonymity: "They moved them," and added that there was no longer an imminent threat of a test. Pyongyang, which rattled the world with its third nuclear test in February, would have to make detectable preparations to return to a launch-ready status, two US officials said. The move was revealed in Washington on the eve of a first summit between President Barack Obama and new South Korean President Park Geun-Hye at the White House on Tuesday, intended as a strong signal of unity to Pyongyang. Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been on the brink of boiling over for months, with the North issuing a series of apocalyptic threats over what it sees as intensely provocative US-South Korean military exercises. Although large-scale, annual joint drills were wrapped up at the end of last month, Pyongyang issued a fresh warning Tuesday over a smaller, joint anti-submarine exercise.
