The crackpot tyrant banned Christmas last year, demanding Christians worship his own grandmother instead.

Kim Jong-suk, who was born on Christmas Eve, has been dubbed the “Sacred Mother of the Revolution”.

Christmas trees and Santa costumes were outlawed in North Korea in 2016 and people were forced to bow down to busts of his gran instead.

And now experts warn Kim could be planning a huge missile launch in the run-up to this year’s celebrations in the US as fears of World War 3 continue.

US think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies claims he will strike on December 17.

That date is the anniversary of the death of Kim's father, Kim Jong-Il, who passed away nearly six years ago. 

And it is claimed the launch will involve a "demonstration of a weapon of mass destruction", following annual military drills in the country that month.

The institute claims December has usually seen a period of high missile test activity by the regime over the past five years. 

There has been a notable absence of North Korea missile tests recently.

But some military experts claim the regime may now have reached a stage in its weaponry development where tests no longer have to be carried out before a strike.

Kim’s hatred of Christmas is well-documented and its is thought he might want to overshadow a moment of celebration in the west.

In 2014 he even threatened South Korea over plans to put up a large Christmas tree on the border between the two countries.

Religions, particularly Christianity, are not welcomed in the secretive state because they are seen as a a challenge to the regime.

Doug Bandow, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Cato Institute, wrote last year: "The DPRK ostentatiously treats anyone of faith, but especially Christians, as hostile.

”Believers place loyalty to God before that of the North Korean state.

“Churches allow people to act and organise outside of state entities. “Christianity also has ties to a world seen as almost uniformly threatening by Pyongyang.”