North Korea may be preparing to carry out a nuclear test as early as next week, amid spiralling tensions on the Korean Peninsula, a senior US official has warned.

Sung Kim, the US special envoy for North Korea, said Pyongyang was ignoring Washington’s overtures for talks and could carry out its first nuclear test in five years to mark the 110th anniversary of the birth of Kim II Sung – Kim Jong-un’s grandfather – on April 15.

The US is concerned that Pyongyang “may be tempted to take another provocative action,” he said, following talks this week with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Xiaoming, in Washington.

“I think it could be another missile launch, it could be a nuclear test. The important thing is that we, in cooperation and coordination with our allies and partners, are prepared to deal with whatever they may undertake,” he said.

“And I want to emphasise that we obviously hope that they will refrain from further provocation.”

Mr Kim’s warning follows an unprecedented barrage of 13 North Korean missile tests this year, including an intercontinental ballistic missile launch that broke a four-year self-imposed moratorium. Pyongyang has also claimed to have tested a hypersonic weapon.