SOUTH KOREA has said it is considering delaying routine military drills on Yongpyeong Island due to poor weather – a decision that may avoid an all-out war for now.

The South had previously planned to carry out the drills on the island – which was last month struck by North Korean artillery shells, killing four people including two civilians – between today and next Tuesday, but may now defer the drills.

BusinessWeek said local forecasts had suggested cloud and a chance of rain at the South Korean port closest to Yongpyeong.

North Korea had threatened to respond with military retaliation to the drills; it had said its original strikes had been retaliatory for previous South Korean aggression, and warned that its response to further drills would be more devastating than the fatal strikes of November 23.

The United States has backed the South to continue with its drills, with a spokesman for the US State Department saying the drills were a “perfectly legitimate step” for South Korea to take.

Such drills were routine for South Korea, he added, and there was no reason for North Korea to feel particularly threatened by the latest drills.

China has retained an ambivalent stance, however, saying it simply opposed any moves that would lead to further tensions on the Korean peninsula and urging restraint. Russia has also expressed anxiousness.