North Korea is to abandon its moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, Kim Jong-un has announced.

Addressing a meeting with party officials, the North Korean leader also said the country would unveil a new strategic weapon in the new future, the country's official KCNA news agency reported on Wednesday.

"There is no ground for us to get unilaterally bound to the commitment any longer," he is quoted as saying.

"The world will witness a new strategic weapon to be possessed by the DPRK in the near future."

North Korea has not tested a long-range missile or nuclear warhead since 2017 under a self-imposed moratorium.

But in recent weeks the North Koreans had been more bellicose as tensions escalated on the Korean peninsula.