THE residents of Inverclyde, living opposite the Faslane nuclear submarine base, may take more than a passing interest in the current combustible exchanges between the United States and North Korea.

Despotic North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, currently doesn’t have the missile range to reach the Clyde, but he’s no fool and may have us on his radar.

The fact that he is pledging to bomb the US probably means he is just using his growing nuclear power to get the world’s attention.

No one, however, can afford to ignore his potentially catastrophic behaviour.

Some in the South Korean capital, Seoul, only about 30 miles from the border with North Korea, believe the threats are bluffs to preserve Kim’s cruel regime and justify spending a fortune on a nuclear programme while many of his people live in grinding poverty or are incarcerated in gulags for ‘crimes’ as petty as not showing enough enthusiasm for their demigod.

And what of President Donald Trump’s promise of ‘fire and fury’?

Will it make a bad situation even worse, or persuade Kim that the luxurious lifestyle he and his cronies enjoy could literally go up in smoke?

While Faslane puts a target on our backs, Kim’s missile-building could be regarded as a public relations gift to those who believe Britain must maintain its own nuclear deterrent.

If he has nuclear weapons and we don’t, would he threaten eventually to lob a few in our direction?