Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado closed her Twitter account after backlash arose when she confused the Koreas with China in a tweet.

The winner of the 1996 pageant, concerned about North Korea’s artillery attack on a South Korean island, had tweeted on Tuesday, "Tonight I want to ask you to join me in a prayer for peace, that these attacks between the Chinas do not make our situation worse."

A flurry of insulting posts followed Machado’s mistake, prompting her to call it a day on Twitter.

"I now have a lot of psychopaths on the account and it’s best I start another one, kisses," Venezuelan media reported her as having signed off.

Machado has stirred up controversy before. After winning the Miss Universe pageant, she gained 10 kilograms and Miss Universe organisation president and real-estate mogul Donald Trump had dubbed her an "eating machine."

Tina Costanza