BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Heightened tensions with the have led the US to delay the test of an inter-continental missile test and postpone congressional testimony by its top military commander in .

The US’s inter-continental ballistic missile test was originally planned to take place in California next week.

But it’s now been postponed amid the heightened tensions with the DPRK, though US defense department says the delay is temporary, and the test launch can be expected next month.

The US and South Korea have also decided to delay an annual meeting between military officials scheduled for next week.

DPRK’s state news agency, KCNA, says the US has sent two nuclear-powered s to waters near the Korean Peninsula.

It says the two aircraft carriers departed on March the 27th, and arrived in the Western Pacific on April the 4th.

The US has also sent nuclear capable B-2 and B-52 bombers, stealth F-22 fighters and two nuclear submarines to take part in a joint drill with South Korea.

The US is also deploying a land-based missile-defense system on its Pacific territory of Guam.

Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who visited the DPRK in 2000, says the current tension is part of a pattern.

Madeleine Albright, former US secretary of state, said, "We need to know this is a pattern, therefore we should not panic. But we also do need to take some very important prudent defensive measures and I think the Obama administration has done that."

’s Kyodo News Agency says the US and Japan might deploy the Global Hawk a high-altitude reconnaissance drone at Japan’s Misawa Air Base in Aomori Prefecture.

Analysts say the move aims at monitoring the DPRK.

(Source: CNTV.cn)