U.S. ambassador: NKorean leader is ‘begging’ for a war
NEW YORK — North Korea’s leader is “begging for war,” the U.S. ambassador said Monday at an emergency meeting of the U.N. 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 circulate a resolution this week with the goal of getting it approved on Sept. 11.
“Enough is enough,” Haley said. “War is never something the United States wants. We don’t want it now. But our country’s patience is not unlimited. 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 President Donald Trump spoke by phone with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and agreed Sunday’s underground nuclear test 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 U.N. 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 proposed a two-pronged approach: North Korea would suspend its nuclear and missile development, and the U.S. and South Korea would suspend their joint military exercises.
Washington and Seoul say the maneuvers are defensive in nature, but Pyongyang views them as a rehearsal for invasion. The North recently requested a Security Council meeting in relation to the war games.
The U.S. said there is no comparison between its openly conducted, internationally monitored military drills and North Korea’s weapons programs, which the international community has banned.
Speaking one after another, diplomats from France, Britain and Italy reiterated demands for the Kim regime to halt its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs and urged further sanctions.