North Korea ICBM
FILE PHOTO: Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) are driven past the stand with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other high ranking officials during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of country's founding father Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang April 15, 2017 Reuters/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

A former top South Korean military general has warned the US about any potential attack on North Korea.

Lieutenant General (Ret.) I.B Chun, former commander of the South Korea Special Warfare Command, said that any conflict in North Korea would be unlike any recent war that has taken place.

Read more

Chun said: "I try to explain to the Americans – if we have to go into North Korea, it is not going to be like going into Iraq or Afghanistan. It's not going to be like toppling Saddam Hussein. This would be more like trying to get rid of Allah."

The former commander was speaking to nuclear experts in London on Wednesday evening (10 January) when he issued the warning to the US.

He described the Kim regime as a "cult" that has inspired an "intense following" within the North Korean people, keeping them in power for so long.

Chun, who lives just 35 miles from the border with North Korea, said that the US would face a series of extreme challenges should they decide to go to war.

One of these was the age of Nprth Korea's fighter planes. He explained that many are leftovers from the Soviet era, making them unsuitable for air-to-air combat against the greatly superior 21st century US aircraft.

But instead, North Korea would use them for "kamikaze-style attacks", loading the planes up with fuel and bombs and going all out to destroy specified targets.

Another big challenge the North poses is that much of their military arsenal is located underground, which would take time to locate and destroy.

Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened Pyongyang over the past 12 months in what has played out as escalating game of verbal jibes between himself and Kim Jong-un regime.

Fresh UN sanctions and ongoing North Korea missile tests have ratcheted up already high tensions between the hermit nation and the US.

Over the summer, Trump threatened North Korea with "fire and fury" if they continue their nuclear missile developments.

This prompted angry responses from Pyongyang, including the state-run newspaper calling for Trump to face the death sentence.

And in early 2018, after reports that Kim had a red nuclear button on his desk, Trump hit back claiming that his button was "bigger and more powerful".

North Korea