SEOUL: North Korea will react with "resolute counteraction" in the event of provocations from upcoming joint military drills between South Korea and the United States, its defence chief said on Monday (Aug 11) in a state media dispatch.

North Korea has denounced a major joint exercise planned by the South Korean and US militaries as "direct military provocation" and warned of counteraction, despite signs of easing tension across the border under a new leader in Seoul.

South Korea’s military said Saturday it detected North Korea removing some of its loudspeakers from the inter-Korean border, days after the South dismantled its own front-line speakers used for anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts,