China has warned North Korea will 'cross the point of no return' if it carries out a sixth nuclear test amid fears the secretive state can create a nuke every six weeks.

Kim Jong-Un is believed to have personally overseen the country's largest ever firing drill in the port city of Wonsan today.

But fears he was due to conduct another nuclear test or another missile launch to mark 85 years since the founding of its army proved unfounded.

It comes as the state-controlled Chinese Global Times newspaper wrote that North Korea risks serious consequences if it carries out further trials.

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Kim Jong-Un (pictured earlier this month) is believed to have personally overseen the country's largest ever firing drill in the port city of Wonsan today

China has warned North Korea will 'cross the point of no return' if it carries out a sixth nuclear test amid fears the secretive state can create a nuke every six weeks

The editorial warned that 'if North Korea carries out a sixth nuclear test as expected, it is more likely than ever that the situation will cross the point of no return."

This would mean 'all parties would bear the consequences, with Pyongyang sure to suffer the greatest losses,' the paper said.

It comes amid claims Pyongyang is capable of creating as many as eight new nuclear weapons a year.

According to the New York Times there is a 'growing body of expert studies and classified intelligence reports' that believes the North is now able to make a new nuclear bomb every six or seven weeks.

Last night North Korea stepped up the tensions with yet more sabre-rattling.

State newspaper Minju Joson wrote: 'The army of North Korea already declared it will deal merciless destructive blows at the enemies so that they would not come back to life again should they make reckless provocation.

'If our Juche weapons with potentials unimaginable by the US open fire, they will destroy the US forces and their stooges to the last man so that there would not be left even a single man who will sign the surrender document.'

the state-controlled Chinese Global Times newspaper wrote that North Korea risks serious consequences if it carries out further nuclear tests

This morning, the South announced joint naval exercises with a US aircraft carrier in the flashpoint region.

The Yonhap news agency cited an unnamed government source saying Pyongyang marked the anniversary with its 'largest ever firing drill', carried out in the eastern port city of Wonsan and presumed to have been overseen by leader Kim Jong-Un.

North Korea has ambitions to build a missile capable of reaching the US mainland and tensions have soared in recent months as it carried out a string of missile tests that sparked tit-for-tat sabre-rattling between it and Washington.

Pyongyang's rhetoric always intensifies in the spring, when Seoul and Washington hold joint military drills it sees as rehearsals for an invasion.

The North's Rodong Sinmun - the official mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea - warned Tuesday of dire consequences in the event of a US-led pre-emptive strike.

It promised 'the most brutal punishment... in the sky and land as well as at sea and from underwater without any warning or prior notice'.

North Korea launched two missile tests this month while US President Donald Trump and his senior aides have warned that 'all options are on the table' against Pyongyang, including military action.

Trump on Monday urged the UN Security Council to consider stronger sanctions against Pyongyang, and US senators will be briefed on North Korea at the White House on Wednesday.

Washington has sent the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula, where it is expected to arrive - after a derision-provoking delay - later this week.

North Korea launched two missile tests this month while US President Donald Trump (pictured) and his senior aides have warned that 'all options are on the table' against Pyongyang, including military action

The vessel will take part in joint naval drills with the South's forces to 'demonstrate Seoul and Washington's strong determination to punish North Korean provocations', the South Korean Navy said in a statement.

They will take place in the East Sea, the South's name for the Sea of Japan, it said, and the two allies will also begin joint naval exercises in the West Sea on Tuesday 'in relation to the current security situation'.

The nuclear-powered US submarine USS Michigan also made a port call to the South's Busan on Tuesday in another show of force.

Trump has said the US was sending an 'armada' to the Korean peninsula, including submarines.

The USS Michigan is built to carry submarine-launched ballistic missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of making precision strikes against the North's nuclear facilities, Yonhap said.

But the South Korean Navy called the vessel's visit 'routine', adding it would not take part in any joint exercises.