GETTY Kim Jong-un has threatened to launch a nuclear weapon on New York after Trump said he couldn't

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Months after the US President’s provocative tweet, the country’s state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmum countered Mr Trump’s claims. The statement said: “The DPRK is about 10,400km [6,462 miles] far away from New York. But this is just not a long distance for its strike today.

North Korea as you've never seen before through these stunning pictures Tue, June 13, 2017 These incredible photographs, which offer a unique glimpse behind the veil, were taken on a trip to the country by web designer Reuben Teo Play slideshow Reuben Teo / mediadrumworld.com 1 of 10 Pyongyang

Deployment of an operational ICBM prior to 2020 is still unlikely John Shilling, for US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

“Trump blustered early this year that the DPRK's final access to a nuclear weapon that can reach the US mainland will never happen. “But the strategic weapons tests conducted by the DPRK clearly proved that the time of its ICBM test is not a long way off at all.” Experts believe North Korea's claims of developing nuclear weapons are improbable.

Writing for the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, John Shilling wrote: “While the success of the Hwasong-12 may advance the North Korean ICBM program by perhaps a year, deployment of an operational ICBM prior to 2020 is still unlikely.” Donald Trump has posted a number of tweets in a bid to belittle the communist state.

But since January 2, he has not bluntly dismissed Kim Jong-un’s ability to actually strike a country with a nuclear weapon. Earlier this year, the Republican tweeted: “North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the US. It won’t happen!”

GETTY Kim Jong-un observng the country's latest missile launch

GETTY New York has bolstered its police presence across the city in the wake of London's terror attack