War risk 'extremely great'

North Korea's nuclear weapons programme must be "halted" before it develops a missile capable of hitting London, the Defence Secretary said.

Asked if the rogue state could strike the UK capital, Michael Fallon replied: "Not yet, but they are clearly accelerating the missile programme, the range is getting longer and longer."

He added: "We have to get this programme halted, because the dangers now of miscalculation, or some accident triggering a response, are extremely great."

The comments appeared to toughen up Britain's stance, just a few weeks after the government insisted it was not preparing to help the US target North Korea's nuclear weapon sites.

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un praised the "perfect success" of the country's sixth and largest nuclear test and urged further weapons development, according to state media.

Pyongyang held a banquet, concert and performances in a weekend display of pageantry to celebrate the September 3 nuclear test, which the North said was a hydrogen bomb that could be fitted onto a rocket.

The blast, which came weeks after the country fired off two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that appeared to bring much of the mainland US into range, prompted global condemnation and calls to ramp up sanctions against the isolated nation.

But the North's leader appeared deaf to the international outrage and hailed the "perfect success in the test of H-bomb" at a dinner to congratulate the scientists and technicians behind the nuclear programme, the official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.

Pyongyang says it needs nuclear arms to protect itself, but the US has accused the isolated nation of "begging for war".

In an interview published yesterday United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the showdown over North Korea's nuclear and missile programme was the world's worst crisis "in years" and had left him deeply worried.

"We have to hope that the seriousness of this threat puts us on the path of reason before it is too late," said Guterres in the French Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

He also called for unity in the UN Security Council, which is set to consider a new draft resolution presented by Washington in recent days that would be the toughest-ever imposed on North Korea.

The US is calling for an oil embargo on the North, an assets freeze on Kim Jong-Un, a ban on textiles and an end to payments of North Korean guest workers.

It is hoping for a vote today though both China and Russia are thought to have raised opposition to the measures.