Military might: How Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un's armed forced compare

With tensions escalating between North Korea and the United States, a war between the two countries is looking more likely by the day.

Donald Trump responded to threats against the US from North Korea, warning the reclusive state would be met with “fire and fury like the world has never seen”.

North Korea fired back at the warning, saying America would “pay by a thousand-fold” if they attacked.

The country, led by Kim Jong-Un, then said they were looking into plans to attack the US territory of Guam – bringing the prospect of a devastating war closer than ever.

But is North Korea equipped to deal with the military might of the United States – and how do their armed forces actually compare?

NUCLEAR

The secrecy of North Korea’s nuclear programme and the underground nature of its test explosions make it very difficult to properly assess its capabilities.

In order to launch a nuclear attack on its neighbours, the country needs to be able to make a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on to a missile – something it claims to have but is disputed by nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker, who has visited the country’s nuclear facilities on several occasions. In fact the country is estimated to have less than 10 nuclear warheads.

By contrast, the United States has a staggering 4,000 nuclear warheads, with a maximum missile range of over 9,000 miles by land – more than is needed to reach North Korea.

ARMY

Despite the country’s limited resources, North Korea boasts a powerful standing army, dedicating 16% of its total budget to defence. There are some 1.19 million service members and another 7.7 million reservists on top of that – making it one of the largest ground forces anywhere in the world.

However, despite another 200,000 highly-trained paramilitary soldiers, bolstering the numbers of the North Korean army, soldiers are generally underpaid and lacking motivation. They are also underfed, meaning soldiers are often smaller in height and lacking in physical strength.