KIM Jong-un has threatened to reduce the US “to ashes” as tensions with North Korea continue to increase.

The secretive state released a statement earlier this month warning Donald Trump of nuclear destruction if America fires "even a single bullet” towards Pyongyang.

3 Kim Jong-un has threatened to reduce the US 'to ashes' with nuclear strikes Credit: Reuters

The statement said: “The Korean People's Army will reduce the bases of aggression and provocation to ashes with its invincible Hwasong rockets tipped with nuclear warheads and reliably defend the security of the country and its people's happiness in case the US and the South Korean puppet forces fire even a single bullet at the territory of the DPRK.”

The menacing talk came as South Korea warned that its northern neighbour’s latest rocket-engine test showed "meaningful" progress.

The North's KCNA news agency said on Sunday the engine would help the country achieve world-class satellite-launch capability – indicating a new type of rocket engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

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Lee Jin-woo, deputy spokesman for the South Korean defence ministry, said: “Through this test, it is found that engine function has made meaningful progress but further analysis is needed for exact thrust and possible uses.”

State-run North Korean media reported that the country’s despotic leader had hailed the test as "a new birth" of its rocket industry.

US President Donald Trump told reporters he held meetings on North Korea during the weekend at his Florida resort.

While he did not refer specifically to the rocket-engine test, he said Kim Jong-un was "acting very, very badly".

3 Kim's Hwasong rockets are tested during another drill earlier this year Credit: Reuters

Trump and members of his administration have been talking tough on North Korea since the Republican took office back in January.

Last week, the president’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced the “policy of strategic patience” was over and refused to rule out military action.

He said: “The diplomatic and other efforts of the past 20 years to bring North Korea to a point of de-nuclearisation have failed. So we have 20 years of a failed approach.

“And that includes a period in which the US provided $1.35billion (£1.08billion) in assistance to North Korea as an encouragement to take a different pathway.”

He added: “If they elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level we believe requires action that option is on the table.”

3 Japanese schoolchildren at the Hokuyou Elementary School listen to instructions of the officials during a missile evacuation drill Credit: Getty Images

Meanwhile, fearing imminent attack, Japan has begun staging mass evacuation drills.

The first exercise of its kind saw civilians young and old scrambling for cover as air-raid sirens wailed.

As previously reported, Japanese civil defence officials have published pamphlets outlining emergency measures in the event of nuclear war.

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