‘Begging for war’
U.S. ambassador says North Korea’s latest nuclear test an act of provocation
North Korea’s leader is “begging for war,” the U.S. ambassador said Monday at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, as members called for punishing the country with even stronger sanctions for its powerful nuclear test. Ambassador Nikki Haley said the U.S. would look at countries doing business with the North and planned to circulate a resolution this week with the goal of getting it approved Sept. 11. “Enough is enough. War is never something the United States wants. We don’t want it now. But our country’s patience is not unlimited,” Haley said. “The United States will look at every country that does business with North Korea as a country, that is giving aid to their reckless and dangerous nuclear intentions.”
The move came as U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and agreed that Sunday’s underground nuclear test by North Korea was a grave provocation that was “unprecedented.” The two leaders also agreed to remove the limit on the payload of South Korean missiles. Scheduled after North Korea said it detonated the hydrogen bomb, the emergency UN session also came six days after the council strongly condemned what it called Pyongyang’s “outrageous” launch of a ballistic missile over Japan. Less than a month ago, the council imposed its stiffest sanctions yet on the reclusive nation.
But the U.S. resolution faces an uncertain future. Russia and China have both proposed a two-pronged approach: North Korea would suspend its nuclear and missile development, and the United States and South Korea would suspend their joint military exercises. Washington and Seoul say the manoeuvres are defensive, but Pyongyang views them as a rehearsal for invasion. The North recently requested a Security Council meeting about the war games.
The U.S. says there is no comparison between its openly conducted, internationally monitored military drills and North Korea’s weapons programs, which the international community has banned. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters after Monday’s meeting that sanctions alone will not solve the issue and there need to be negotiations too.
“Resolutions aimed solely at sanctioning North Korea have not worked well before,” Nebenzia said. Speaking one after the other, diplomats from France, Britain and Italy and reiterated demands for the Kim regime to halt its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs and urged further sanctions. French Ambassador Francois Delattre said France was urging the adoption of new UN sanctions, swift implementation of existing ones and new, separate sanctions by the European Union.