North Korea has labelled a tweet by US President Donald Trump as the "spasm of a lunatic" and "bark of a rabid dog".

The country's ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, was responding to the President's claim that he has a "much bigger and more powerful" nuclear button than Kim Jong Un.

Mr Trump had taken aim at North Korea's nuclear ambitions in a 3 January tweet, in response to a claim by Kim Jong Un that he had a nuclear button on his desk at all times.

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"North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'nuclear button is on his desk at all times'," he wrote.

"Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!"


North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 3 January 2018

The exchange is the latest in an ongoing war of words between Mr Trump and the North Korean leadership, with the threat of nuclear war frequently alluded to by both sides.

The US President has called Korea's leader a "little rocket man" while Pyongyang's foreign minister responded in kind by calling Mr Trump a "mentally deranged person full of meglomania".

Body Language: Kim Jong Un

In the commentary published on Tuesday, Rodong Sinmum said: "The spasm of Trump in the new year reflects the desperate mental state of a loser who failed to check the vigorous advance of the army and people of the DPRK.

"He is making (a) bluff only to be diagnosed as a psychopath," it wrote.