French comedian Dieudonne, who has been convicted for racist and anti-Semitic comments in the past, has announced that he plans to travel to North Korea next month.

Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala will travel there on September 9 along with far-right writer Alain Soral, who has already visited Pyongyang to "work for peace", the comedian said in a video posted on YouTube last week.

"At a time when the United States is organising military exercises on the Korean peninsula, I believe we have to take action," Dieudonne said, adding that he would take part in a "peace festival" in Pyongyang.

Early on Tuesday, the reclusive state fired a missile over Japan, the latest n a series of launches, prompting US President Donald Trump to insist that "all options" were on the table in an implied threat of military action. 

The UN Security Council denounced North Korea's latest missile test, unanimously demanding that Pyongyang halt its missile programme.

The comedian has often made headlines, most notably with his trademark "quenelle" hand gesture that looks like an inverted Nazi salute, but which he insists is merely anti-establishment.

Source: AFP