The new round of South Korea-U.S. joint naval drills, which had been scheduled to start on Sunday, was put off due to an approaching typhoon, local media reported.

The five-day anti-submarine exercise, part of the latest response to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s alleged torpedo attack on a South Korean warship in March, has been postponed because another typhoon may be on track to hit South Korea, the leading broadcaster YTN quoted Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as saying.

Typhoon Malou, the ninth tropical cyclone in the region this year, formed Friday afternoon about 470 kilometers southeast of Okinawa, Japan, and is expected to reach South Korea's western waters early next week.

New dates for the drills will be decided later, the JCS said.

About ten vessels, including USS Curtis Wilbur and USS Fitzgerald, will reportedly be mobilized for the latest round of drills.

In July, the two allies held massive naval and air exercises together in waters east of the divided peninsula, which involved 20 ships and submarines, 200 aircraft and some 8,000 troops.

The DPRK, denying its responsibility for the suspected attack, condemned the drills as preparation for invasion and threatened a counteraction.

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