North Korea has taken two Musudan missiles off launch-ready status and moved them from their position on the country's east coast, U.S. officials told Reuters Monday. This development followed weeks of concern that Pyongyang was poised for a test-launch.
For weeks last month, North Korea had been spewing belligerent threats aimed at South Korea and the United States.
The North's rhetoric intensified after the U.N. Security Council voted in March to slap tougher sanctions on the regime and against the backdrop of U.S.-South Korean military drills in the region.
Meanwhile Pentagon spokesman George Little, who declined to comment directly on the missiles, told reporters "what we have seen recently is a provocation pause".
"And we think that's obviously beneficial to efforts to ensure we have peace and stability on the Korean peninsula."
This story first appeared on Voice of Russia & is reposted here with permission.