US President Donald Trump threatened to permanently freeze US funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO), unless "substantive improvements" were made within the next 30 days.

Washington suspended payments to the WHO in mid-April, accusing it of being too close to Beijing and covering up and mismanaging the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday Trump tweeted images of a letter he sent to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying the letter was "self-explanatory".

In the letter, Trump lists what he says are examples of the WHO's shortcomings in managing the pandemic; including ignoring early reports of the emergence of the virus and being too close to China.

In the letter, Trump said it is clear the repeated missteps by Tedros and his organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world, and the independence from China.

Earlier on Monday, the WHO said it would launch an independent review of the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

During a virtual assembly, Tedros acknowledged there had been shortcomings and told the assembly he welcomed calls for a review.