North Korea has started holding evacuation drills as tension with US continue

North Korea has started holding evacuation drills as its war of words with the US continues to escalate, according to a North Korean newspaper.

A commentary in Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, said “reckless and hysteric behaviours” could “reduce the US mainland to ashes” at any moment.

It said there had recently been an evacuation drill to deal with a “ballistic rocket threat” from someone in Hawaii in response to President Donald Trump’s vows that the US would “not rule out a war”.

Tensions have heightened recently after President Trump warned North Korea would face “fire and fury” if it continued to threaten the US, prompting the regime to reveal it is considering missile strikes on the US pacific island of Guam, home to Andersen Air Force Base.

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The Rodong Sinmun commentary, reported by state news agency the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said in the wake of its latest successful missile launch test, the regime remains steadfast in its aim to “put an end to the hostile moves of the US”.

It added: “The U.S. and its vassal forces will dearly pay for the harshest sanctions and pressure and reckless military provocations against the DPRK.”