North Korea warns of 'crisis beyond control' in new threat to US president Joe Biden

North Korea warned the US it will face a "crisis beyond control" and a "very grave situation" in its latest threat since Joe Biden became president.

A spokesman for dictator Kim Jong-un's regime said Washington's recent criticism of human rights in North Korea shows that the United States is "girding itself up for an all-out showdown".

Kim's regime lashed out at the US in a series of statements on Sunday, saying Biden's recent comments about nuclear weapons are proof of a hostile policy that requires a corresponding response from Pyongyang.

In a separate statement, Kim's sister Kim Yo-jong warned South Korea would face consequences for failing to stop defector activists from launching anti-Pyongyang leaflets over the border into North Korean territory.

In a speech to Congress last week, Biden said Kim's nuclear programme presents "a serious threat to America's security and world security".

Pyongyang's latest warning underscores the challenges Biden faces as he seeks to distance his approach from the failures of his predecessors.

In one statement, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman accused Washington of insulting the dignity of the country's supreme leadership by criticising North Korea's human rights situation.

The human rights criticism is a provocation that shows theUnited States is "girding itself up for an all-out showdown" with North Korea, and will be answered accordingly, the unnamed spokesman said.