Taiwan halts live-fire drills after Kim's death

Taiwan on Tuesday ordered a halt to planned live-fire military drills to avoid inflaming regional tensions after the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, officials said.

Planned live-fire exercises on outlying islands had been suspended so as to avoid any "unexpected misunderstanding", Major General Hau I-chih told reporters.

Taiwan's arch-rival China is North Korea's sole major ally.

"When to lift the temporary suspension of such exercises will depend on developments on the Korean peninsula," Hau said, declining to say when exactly the drills were scheduled to take place.

Taiwan's National Security Council held a special inter-ministry meeting and briefed President Ma Ying-jeou after Kim's death was announced on Monday. Read More