Watch Kim Jong-un chuckle like a child as his warplanes bomb a practice target

Footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un chuckling with delight as his aeroplanes bomb practice targets and perform mid-air stunts has been released by the country's state-run media.

The Supreme Leader was treated to a showcase of the communist state's finest military hardware by air force chiefs earlier this week.

The 33-year-old grinned like a child with a brand new toy as his bombers, fighter jets and attack helicopters pulled out all the stops while he looked on from a special viewing platform.

The Korean Central News Agency later hailed the air force's ability to "destroy any targets, including enemy aircraft carriers".

The latest show of force follows a series of ballistic missile tests designed to provoke Kim's regional enemies and the US.

The US retaliated to the provocations by staging military exercises with the Japanese navy in the waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula. The US also recently demonstrated a missile defence system that it claims would protect America from an intercontinental attack.

However, a North Korean spokesman said the Americans were fooling themselves if they thought they were safe, adding that the one-party state would rain down a "shower of nuclear strikes" on the US.

Sabre-rattling has been a constant feature of North Korean foreign policy since Kim's grandfather, Kim Il-sung, consolidated power over the territory in the 1950s.

The Americans have typically responded to the Kim dynasty's muscle-flexing and nuclear ambitions with a combination of sanctions and appeasement.

However, with the infamously spontaneous Donald Trump as Commander in Chief, Korea-watchers are anxious that Kim Jong-un may overplay his hand and precipitate a war.