North Korea has boasted of a newly developed anti-tank weapon that its leader said was so powerful it could turn the most heavily armoured enemy tanks into boiled pumpkin.

Pyongyang’s state media said leader Kim Jong-Un had watched tests of the portable laser-guided rocket and declared it had the longest firing range in the world and was as accurate as a sniper’s rifle.

Kim called for the weapon to go into mass production as soon as possible and for it to be deployed to front line units and coastal defence units.