The hermit state reacted furiously after two US supersonic bombers performed live-fire drills in South Korea in a show of military strength.

State-run newspaper Rodong newspaper described the region as the "world's biggest tinderbox" and warned: "Don't play with fire on a powder keg."

Yesterday's drill was designed to "sternly respond" to recent missile launches by North Korea.

But the propaganda rag branded it a "dangerous military gambit of warmongers who are trying to ignite the fuse of a nuclear war on the peninsula".

It added: "The US, with its dangerous military provocation, is pushing the risk of a nuclear war on the peninsula to a tipping point.

"A small misjudgment or error can immediately lead to the beginning of a nuclear war, which will inevitably lead to another world war."

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Army personnel and people gather at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang o celebrate the successful test-launch of intercontinental ballistic rocket Hwasong-14

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Donald Trump's administration and the North's regime under leader Kim Jong-un have exchanged hostile rhetoric for months.

Tension further escalated after North Korea's test-launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last week.

The North has staged five nuclear tests and has made a significant progress in its missile capability under Kim, who took power in 2011.

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Mr Trump yesterday told Chinese President Xi Jinping that the United States will stop North Korea "one way or the other".

He said: "I appreciate the things that you have done relative to the very substantial problem that we all face in North Korea, a problem that something has to be done about.

"It may take longer than I'd like, it may take longer than you'd like. But there will be success in the end one way or the other."

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'Tipping point for NUCLEAR WAR' North Korea threatens to spark WW3 after US bombing drill - Express.co.uk