Time for talk on North Korea over, says US after latest missile launch

THE time for talk on North Korea is over, the United States said, spurning a UN response to Pyongyang’s latest ICBM launch in favour of bomber flights and missile defence system tests.

US envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said there was no point in holding a fruitless emergency Security Council session, warning that another weak council resolution would be “worse than nothing” in light of the North’s repeated violations.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un boasted of his country’s ability to strike any target in the US after an intercontinental ballistic missile test on Friday which weapons experts said could even bring New York into range – a major challenge to President Donald Trump.

US strategic bombers on Saturday flew over the Korean peninsula in a direct response to the launch, and on Sunday American forces successfully tested a missile interception system which the US hopes will be installed on the Korean peninsula.

Under Kim’s leadership, North Korea has accelerated its drive towards a credible nuclear strike capability, in defiance of international condemnation and multiple sets of UN sanctions. The US Senate passed new bipartisan sanctions on Pyongyang on Friday.

Haley urged China, Japan and South Korea to tighten the screws on Pyongyang.

“An additional Security Council resolution that does not significantly increase the international pressure on North Korea is of no value,” she said in a statement on Sunday.

“China must decide whether it is finally willing to take this vital step. The time for talk is over.”

Analysts said the comments indicated Washington had run out of patience with the diplomatic approach. The latest ICBM test “poses a seemingly tangible threat to the national security of the US”, Jeung Young-tae, director of military studies at Dongyang University in South Korea, said.

“Whether we want it or not, the risk of unilateral military action by the US cannot be ruled out.”