North Korea is ‘facing destruction’, US warns
NORTH Korea faces destruction unless it gives up its missile and nuclear weapons programmes and stops threatening the US and its allies, warned top advisers to US President Donald Trump.
The warnings came a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to continue the weapons programmes, saying his country is nearing its goal of equilibrium in military force with the US.
They also come as world leaders begin arriving in New York for the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly this week, where the topic of North Korea will be high on the agenda.
Mr Trump will make his first appearance at the UN General Assembly, his biggest moment on the world stage since January’s inauguration. He is due to address the world body, which he has criticised as weak and incompetent, on Tuesday.
Mr Trump tweeted that he and South Korean president Moon Jae-in discussed North Korea during their latest telephone conversation on Saturday.
US national security adviser HR McMaster said Kim is “going to have to give up his nuclear weapons because the president has said he’s not going to tolerate this regime threatening the United States and our citizens with a nuclear weapon.”
Asked if that meant Mr Trump would launch a military strike, Mr McMaster said “he’s been very clear about that, that all options are on the table.”
Kim has threatened Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, and has fired two missiles over Japan, a US ally in Asia, including one that was launched on Friday. North Korea also recently tested its most powerful bomb.
The UN Security Council voted unanimously twice in recent weeks to tighten economic sanctions on North Korea, including targeting shipments of oil and other fuel used in missile testing. US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said North Korea was starting to “feel the pinch.” But she warned of a tougher US response in the future, saying the Security Council has “pretty much exhausted” all of its options and that she would be happy to turn the matter over to defence secretary Jim Mattis “because he has plenty of military options”.
Mr Mattis said earlier this month, after Kim tested a hydrogen bomb, that the US will answer any threat from the North with a “massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming”.
Mr Trump has threatened to rain “fire and fury” on North Korea. Ms Haley said that wasn’t an empty threat from the president but, when asked, she declined to describe the president’s intentions.
“If North Korea keeps on with this reckless behaviour, if the United States has to defend itself or defend its allies in any way, North Korea will be destroyed and we all know that and none of us want that,” said Ms Haley.
“None of us want war. But we also have to look at the fact that you are dealing with someone who is being reckless, irresponsible and is continuing to give threats not only to the United States, but to all their allies, so something is going to have to be done.”
In Sunday’s tweet, Trump said he asked Mr Moon about “Rocket Man” – an apparent reference to Kim. Mr Trump also tweeted that long lines for gas are forming in North Korea and called it “too bad.”
After Mr Trump’s tweet, the White House said that he and Mr Moon are committed to strengthening deterrence and defence capabilities, and maximising economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea.
Mr Trump plans to sit down with Mr Moon and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe during the UN General Assembly session this week.