N.Korea in 'final stages of test launching intercontinental ballistic missile': Kim

North Korea is in the "final stages" of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Pyongyang has "soared as a nuclear power" in 2016, the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said in his New Year's address to the nation. Source: AAP

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Sunday that the isolated nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

"We are in the final stages of test-launching the intercontinental ballistic missile," Kim said in a televised New Year's speech, adding that Pyongyang had "soared as a nuclear power" in 2016.

North Korea tested ballistic missiles at an unprecedented rate during 2016, although some experts have said it is years away from developing an ICBM fitted with a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the United States.

The country has been under UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The sanctions were tightened last month after Pyongyang conducted its fifth and largest nuclear test on September 9.

In February, North Korea launched a satellite into space, which was widely seen as a test of long-range ballistic missile technology.

A senior US military official said last month that North Korea appears able to mount a miniaturised nuclear warhead on a missile but is still struggling with missile re-entry technology necessary for longer range strikes.

During the speech, Kim also denounced the US and South Korean President Park Geun-hye for the conflict in Korean peninsula.

“We have to put an end to the invasion and interference of the US and foreign countries for conquering the Asia-pacific through South Korea, and we must smash activities of slavish, anti-unification traitors like Park Geun-hye, who is unable to distinguish the real enemy and finding way to survive in the confrontation of the same race,” Kim added.

North Korea gets particularly upset about the annual US-South Korea drills, which it says are preparations for an invasion.

The US and South Korea remain technically at war with North Korea because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce instead of a peace agreement.