North Korea's leader received a report from his army on its plans to fire missiles towards Guam and said he will watch the actions of the United States for a while longer before making a decision, the North's official news agency said on today.

North Korea said last week it was finalising plans to launch four missiles into the waters near the US Pacific territory of Guam, and its army would report the strike plan to leader Kim Jong-un and wait for his order.

Kim, who inspected the command of the North's army yesterday, examined the plan for a long time and discussed it with army officers, the official KCNA said in a report.

"He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared," the report said.

DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang's detailed plans for the strike near Guam prompted a surge in tensions in the region last week, with US President Donald Trump warning he would unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea if it threatened the United States.

South Korean and US officials have since sought to play down the risks of an imminent conflict, helping soothe global concerns, somewhat, yesterday.

Kim said the United States should make the right choice "in order to defuse the tensions and prevent the dangerous military conflict on the Korean peninsula," the KCNA report said.

The visit to the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA) marks Kim's first public appearance in about two weeks.

The North's leader ordered the army should always be fire-ready should he make a decision for action, the report said.

- Reuters