Kim Jong Un looks desperate to hold on to his crumbling regime, and now he’s talking tough. As the Sun reports:

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.

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 hermit kingdom dictator has been testing rockets that could presumably be used to attack American allies in Japan and South Korea. In the past, Kim has staged elaborate stunts as a means of squeezing billions in foreign aid out of American leaders. But he’s never negotiated with someone like Donald Trump.

A week ago, Business Insider reported that for the first time, American special forces joined in military exercises with South Korean military officials, and suggested this might be in preparation for regime change.