THE North Korean regime is guilty of “paranoid rhetoric” after warning last week that it could not guarantee the safety of embassy staff in the event of a war, UK foreign minister William Hague has said.

As the US moved to ease tensions by postponing a missile test in California, the foreign secretary urged Britain and other allies to remain calm as he said there were no signs of a major military buildup.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Hague said: “We have to be concerned about the danger of miscalculation by the North Korean regime, which has worked itself up into this frenetic state of rhetoric in recent weeks, and the danger that they would believe their own paranoid rhetoric. But it is important that the international response to this, including our response, must be clear and united and calm.”

The foreign minister declined to comment on British and other intelligence about the military threat from North Korea. But he indicated that intelligence suggested Pyongyang did not pose a major threat when he said there were no signs of the sort of military buildup that would be expected before a major conflict.

“It is important to stress that we haven’t seen in recent days, in recent weeks, a change in what is happening in North Korean society. We have not been able to observe that. We have not seen the repositioning of forces or the redeployment of ground forces that one might see in a period prior to a military assault or to an all-out conflict. That is why I say it is important to keep calm as well as to be firm and united about this.”

The foreign minister’s remarks came after Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary, postponed the test launch of a Minuteman 3 intercontinental missile from a California airbase until next month in an attempt to reduce tensions.  Hague said the behaviour of the regime of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, was typical of authoritarian leaders who needed to shore up their position by creating an external threat. “What is going on here could easily be what we have often seen throughout history among authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.

By arrangement with the Guardian