South Korea has asked the US to delay joint military exercises until after the Winter Olympics, in order to lower the chances that North Korea takes provocative actions during the Pyeongchang Games, which Seoul wants to use to showcase the country’s development.

Four people familiar with the situation said Seoul wanted to postpone the start of the annual spring exercises — called Key Resolve/Foal Eagle — until after the Paralympics, which end on March 18. Two of those people said the US was likely to accept the request.

The move comes as tensions on the Korean peninsula have risen to the point where Seoul and Tokyo are concerned that the Pentagon may be preparing for a strike on North Korea in an effort to convince Kim Jong Un to abandon his weapons programmes.