They are barely seven years old, but these glum-looking children are already being drafted into a tyrannical regime hellbent on waging nuclear war with the world.

Standing in arrow-straight rows, their faces are hardly the picture of happiness as they are forced to pledge their allegiance to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and call him ‘father’.

Troubling images of them being inducted into an organisation likened to the Hitler Youth emerged as their despot leader pressed ahead with plans to launch a ballistic missile, potentially with nuclear capabilities.