North Korea is believed to be have about 1,000 ballistic missiles, kept under the control of the Strategic Rocket Forces, based in South Pyongan Province outside the capital, Pyongyang.

The majority of the missiles have a short range of between 30 to 300 miles and are aimed at targets in neighbouring South Korea, but the successful testing of North Korea’s first intercontinental ballistic missile in July 2017 brought the world face to face with a frightening new reality.

Pyongyang boasted that the new Hwasong-14, with an estimated effective range of 6,210 miles, gave them the capability of hitting the “heart of the United States” with “large heavy nuclear warheads”.

Both Hawaii and Alaska lie firmly within this missile’s sights, but it could also potentially pose a danger to London, which lies 5,380 miles from North Korea. Moscow, Delhi and Sydney could also be viable targets.

After a year of heavy investment in its missile technology, the regime delivered another wake-up call in November, when it test-fired the Hwasong-15 ICBM, capable of travelling an even further distance of more than 8,000 miles.