US tells China to cut off North Korea’s oil after missile launch

THE United States last night urged China to cut off crude oil supplies to North Korea and pressed all countries to isolate Kim Jong-un’s regime by severing all diplomatic and trade ties.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said that the ballistic missile launch on Tuesday night “brings us closer to war”. Experts said the missile was capable of reaching Washington.

Donald Trump, the US president had told Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, in a telephone conversation “that we have come to the point that China must cut off the oil from North Korea,” Ms Haley told the UN security council.

“If war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed,” she added.

Following the test of its previously unseen Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, North Korea claimed it had achieved its goal of becoming a nuclear state. Mr Kim “declared with pride that now we have finally realised the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force”, the country’s official news agency stated.

North Korea said the missile reached an altitude of 4,475km, 10 times that of the International Space Station, before splashing down in waters off Japan after a 53-minute flight.

Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: “Just spoke to President Xi Jinping of China concerning the provocative actions of North Korea. Additional major sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today. This situation will be handled!”

In London, the North Korean ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office. Mark Field, a Foreign Office minister, said: “North Korea claims it wants to bring security and prosperity to its people. But its actions are creating only insecurity and deepening its isolation.”