Starving North Korean soldiers have been ordered to steal corn to ensure they are 'combat ready' for 'imminent war', it has been claimed.

Kim Jong-un's army officers have reportedly given their malnourished fighters permission to raid crops from impoverished citizens.

Pyongyang frequently boasts of the power of its military. But soldiers surviving on meagre rations have resorted to carrying sacks of unripened corn in a bid to sell it at markets, according to sources in Ryanggang Province.

Soldiers surviving on meager rations have resorted to carrying sacks of unripened corn in a bid to sell it at markets, sources in Ryanggang Province told Daily NK

Starving North Korean soldiers have been ordered to steal corn to ensure they are 'combat ready' for 'imminent war', it has been claimed (file picture)

Kim Jong-un's army officers have reportedly given their malnourished fighters permission to raid crops from impoverished citizens

Another source in North Hamgyong Province told the Daily NK website: 'Young soldiers tired of relentless hunger are frequently deserting the army to steal food. Even military officers are encouraging the practice.

'The military officers are instructing their soldiers, exhausted after training, to eat corn in the fields because war is imminent. They are even threatening their soldiers, saying, 'If you become malnourished despite permission to eat the corn, you will face difficulties.''

One source told the website that residents are becoming increasingly critical of army personnel and high ranking officers for not feeding their fighters properly.

The claims surfaced as US heavy bombers and stealth jet fighters took part in a joint live fire drill in South Korea today, intended as a show of force against the North after its latest missile launch.

'South Korean and US air forces conducted an air interdiction exercise in order to strongly cope with North Korea's repeated firing of ballistic missiles and development of nuclear weapons,' the South's air force said in a statement.

South Korea's F-15K fighter jets drop bombs during a training at the Taebaek Pilsung Firing Range today

Two B-1B 'Lancer' bombers from Guam and four F-35B stealth jet fighters from the Marine Corps' Iwakuni airbase in Japan conducted the drill, with four South Korean jet fighters also taking part.

B-1B overflights of the peninsula from Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, infuriate the North, which cited them when it announced a plan to fire a salvo of missiles towards the island.

It was one of the moves that saw tensions spiral this month, along with a new set of UN Security Council sanctions, US President Donald Trump's apocalyptic warning to rain 'fire and fury' on Pyongyang, and culminating with the North firing a missile over Japan on Tuesday.

A frustrated Trump took to Twitter to condemn Pyongyang, saying 'the US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!'

With tensions surging, Moscow urged Washington not to use force against North Korea and also said attempts to toughen sanctions would be counterproductive.