UN Amb. Haley warns ‘N. Korean regime will be utterly destroyed’ if war breaks out
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley ratcheted up talk of war with North Korea in reaction to the isolated country's most recent intercontinental ballistic missile test, warning that Kim Jong-un’s government is on a road to ruin.
During an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Haley asked the members of the panel to increase the sanctions imposed on North Korea and to implement penalties established by the council earlier in the year, The Hill reported.
Haley also warned the panel that North Korea's latest missile test has brought Pyongyang and Washington “closer to war.”
“If war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed,” Haley said.
“The dictator of North Korea made a choice yesterday that brings the world closer to war, not farther from it,” Ambassador Haley added.
Also on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said that he would put forth “additional major sanctions” against North Korea in reaction to the recent ICBM test. Trump added that “the situation will be handled.”
North Korea's latest ICBM test on Tuesday was its first in more than two months, and the rocket that was launched flew further than any previous launches. The distance of the launch allegedly put the US mainland into the range of the missile, according to North Korean state media.
As a result of the continuous pressure the US has put on Pyongyang, on November 20, Trump officially declared North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism.
While speaking of the designation, Trump said: “In addition to threatening the world with nuclear devastation, North Korea has supported international acts of terrorism including assassinations on foreign soil.”
On November 15, as tensions between the two countries continued to heat up, the US military stated their B-1 bombers are capable of dropping nuclear weapons, and the US possesses “secret silos” of nuclear hardware.
US Strategic Command, which is responsible for the Department of Defense's global operations, shared a KPNX article on Twitter to back up their claims, but subsequently faced backlash from users on the social media platform calling it “false and misleading.”
And earlier in November, Pyongyang's ambassador to the UN, Han Tae Song, ruled out negotiations over its nuclear program in November, citing US-South Korea military exercises in the waters off of the Korean peninsula, which the north sees as a threat to their country.
"As long as there is a continuous hostile policy against my country by the US and as long as there are continued war games on our doorstep, then there will not be negotiations," he said.
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In October, North Korea mimicked the the Trump administration’s tough talk and threatened an "unimaginable" strike on the US, as tensions further ramped up over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, North Korean state media reported.
Haley’s comments are a continuation of the Trump administration’s responses to North Korean military displays. The president stated in August that he would unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea if it continued threatening the US and its allies.
