US and South Korea end joint military drills

The United States and South Korea wrapped up joint military drills that infuriated North Korea, raising hopes for an easing of cross-border military tensions, AFP reports.

The two-month-long "Foal Eagle" air, ground and naval field training exercise involved more than 10,000 US troops along with a far higher number of South Korean personnel.

"The drill is over but the South Korean and US militaries will continue to watch out for potential provocations by the North, including a missile launch," Seoul's defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters.

The North is still maintaining a number of missiles and missile launchers that were recently moved to its east coast in apparent preparation for a launch, Kim added.

Pyongyang regularly denounces joint US-South Korean drills as a rehearsal for invasion, but Seoul and Washington have insisted the manoeuvres were defensive in nature.

"With the military drills over, at least we can worry less about any accidental clash developing into a full-scale war," said Paik Hak-Soon, a North Korea expert at the Sejong Institute, a think-tank in Seoul.

The Korean peninsula has been in a state of heightened military tension since the North carried out its third nuclear test in February.