AKIPRESS.COM - North Korea's leader has delayed a decision on firing missiles towards Guam while he waits to see what the United States does next, the North's state media said on Tuesday, as South Korea's president said Seoul would seek to prevent war by all means.

Signs of an easing in tension on the Korean peninsula helped stock markets rally for a second day running even as the United States and South Korea prepared for more joint military drills and experts warned North Korea could still go ahead with its provocative plan, Reuters reported.

In his first public appearance in about two weeks, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected the command of the North's army on Monday, examining a plan to fire four missiles to land near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, the official KCNA said in a report.

"He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared," the report said.

The DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.