US President Donald Trump said Wednesday North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a "wise" choice for refraining from making imminent threats against Washington.

"Kim Jong-un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" Trump said in a Twitter posting.

Trump's remark came after Kim said Tuesday that he would watch Washington's behavior "a little more," but it will make an "important" decision if the US continues its "extremely dangerous reckless actions."

Kim's announcement marks a retreat from last week, when Pyongyang threatened to fire Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missiles into waters just 30-40 kilometers off the US-controlled Pacific island of Guam.

Trump, in response, warned that the military is "locked and loaded" should North Korea act "unwisely." Days earlier, he had promised to rain "fire and fury" on Pyongyang if it continued to threaten his country.

The unusually strong rhetoric was tamped down by senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who argued the president was simply speaking in the kind of language Kim would understand and that the US remained open to talks with the recalcitrant regime. It is up to North Korea, however, to first demonstrate that it is serious about denuclearization, he said.

Some claimed the administration was sending mixed messages, but Trump and other officials insisted they were speaking with one voice.

"We are certainly on the same page," Heather Nauert, a State Department spokeswoman, said when asked about the president's latest tweet. "No one wants what the DPRK has threatened."

DPRK is an acronym of North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"I don't think there is anyone in the US government or anyone in the world who would like to see the DPRK go forward with its threats to do anything to US territories or any other nation or ally of ours," she said during a briefing with foreign reporters. (Yonhap)