A mechanical fault is being blame for US military helicopter crash near the North Korean border.

A US military helicopter taking part in a joint South Korea-US drill has crashed near the North Korean border.

North Korea threatened today to launch a “sacred war” against South Korea even as a delegation from Seoul travelled across the countries’ heavily fortified border for a meeting on a stalled joint tourism project.

The South Korean military today said three apparent explosions were heard just north of the Korean border, where North Korean troops are stationed.