SEOUL - South Korea's presidential office will convene an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) on Thursday (Aug 10), apparently to discuss North Korea's fresh threat to stage a missile provocation against the United States.

The NSC meeting will be held at 3pm local time, chaired by President Moon Jae In's top security adviser and National Security Office chief Chung Eui Yong, Yonhap news agency quoted the office as saying.

This comes after North Korea said it will develop a plan by mid-August to launch four intermediate range missiles at the US territory of Guam. It will present the plan to leader Kim Jong Un who will make a decision on whether to proceed, Reuters news agency quoted the North's state media as saying on Thursday.

"The Hwasong-12 rockets to be launched by the KPA (Korean People's Army) will cross the sky above Shimane, Hiroshima and Koichi Prefectures of Japan," KCNA said, citing General Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the KPA.

"They will fly 3,356.7km for 1,065 seconds and hit the waters 30 to 40km away from Guam."

The unusually detailed report on the attack plan marked a further escalation in tensions between Pyongyang and Washington after US President Donald Trump warned North Korea earlier this week that it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States.

The news agency described Trump's threat as a "load of nonsense", adding that "sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him."