The South Korean military on Tuesday said that Pyongyang has started the regular winter-time drills and "there are no signs indicating any imminent provocative acts".
"We believe that North Korea began their regular wintertime drills," Yonhap News Agency quoted Col. Kim Jun-rak, spokesperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), as saying at a briefing here.
North Korea usually begins their winter military exercise in December, which continues through early spring.
The spokesperson said that amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic, this year's drills could be held in a smaller scale.
Without any new major military moves this year, North Korea in October unveiled a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), along with diverse military assets during a military parade.
