North Korea ambassadors recalled to Pyongyang amid rising tensions with US

Included in the sudden joint meeting are the hermit kingdoms top envoys to China, the United Nations and Russia.

A government official said: “North Korea seems to be hosting what appears to be a meeting of foreign diplomatic missions’ chiefs after calling its ambassadors to major countries back to Pyongyang.”

It is not known how many ambassadors are involved in the meeting.

The secretive state has warned that further action will be taken, possibly involving a nuclear test or missile launches.

The South Korean Ministry of Unification said they hoped the meeting was just a routine gathering of ambassadors.

A spokesman said: “North Korea held the 43rd ambassadors’ meeting in July 2015 and (the latest meeting) seems to be in line with that.”

It follows reports that Kim Jong-un could be keen to call Donald Trump’s bluff regarding “tough action” on the country.

Dr John Nilsson-Wright, a senior research fellow for north east Asia at Chatham House, said North Koreans will view the US President’s threats to hit back at the rogue nation as him “bluffing”.

He said the billionaire tycoon’s failure to deliver on “tough action” in the past undermined his vow to meet any attack on the US territory of Guam with “fire and fury”.

Speaking to Channel 4 News, the academic said: “I think this is potentially very dangerous, we know that President Trump likes to shoot from the hip, we also know he’s the sort of president who likes to promise tough action and not deliver.

“If you think about his response to his critics at home, both within the opposition party and within his own party.

“This is a man who frequently threatens to do tough things – threatening to sue his opponents – I think the danger in this situation is that the North Koreans will have taken the measure of the man and believe that he’s bluffing and believe therefore they can launch their missiles with impunity.”

Dr Nilsson-Wright said Pyongyang’s lack of belief in the US launching strikes at North Korea would allow it to go ahead and carry out nuclear weapons tests regardless.

South Korea’s president Moon Jae-in this morning called for an end to all tensions in the region.

He said: “There must be no war on the Korea Peninsula. Whatever ups and downs we face, the North Korean nuclear situation must be resolved peacefully.”