KYODO NEWS - Jul 6, 2017 - 07:57 | All, World

The United States is prepared to use military force against North Korea to stop its weapons program, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Wednesday.

At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Haley also said Washington will propose fresh sanctions on North Korea in the coming days, following Pyongyang's apparent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday.

North Korean actions are "quickly closing off the possibility of a diplomatic solution" and the United States is "prepared to use the full range of our capabilities to defend ourselves and our allies," Haley said.

"One of our capabilities lies with our considerable military forces. We will use them if we must," she said, adding, "But we prefer not to have to go in that direction."

Yasuhisa Kawamura, Japan's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, decried the latest missile test by North Korea as an "utterly unacceptable provocation."

Noting that Tokyo will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, he spoke of the need to work together to "increase pressure" on Pyongyang in lieu of holding dialogue.

On Tuesday, North Korea said through its official media that it had successfully test-fired an ICBM for the first time. It said the highly lofted missile flew about 933 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 2,802 km for 39 minutes.

If fired at a normal trajectory, some military experts believe it could have flown more than 8,000 km, bringing the U.S. states of Alaska and Hawaii within its reach.



(Korean Central Television)

The launch of the missile, which landed in waters within Japan's exclusive economic zone, was in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from testing such arms technologies.

But there are no signs of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's regime abandoning its desire to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting as far as the U.S. mainland.

The United States has in recent months been pressing for tougher sanctions, such as an oil embargo, on the reclusive country. As North Korea's closest ally and largest trading partner, China has traditionally resisted such measures.

Meanwhile, Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi said at Wednesday's meeting that Beijing is seeking a solution to the standoff through dialogue and that military means cannot be an option.

He also repeated China's oft-stated opposition to the deployment of a new missile defense system in South Korea, saying it "seriously undermines the strategic security interests of regional countries including China."

"China urges the countries concerned to halt and cancel this deployment immediately," Liu said.

Apparently with China in mind, Haley said Washington will cut off trade with countries that maintain commerce with North Korea in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

"There are countries that are allowing, even encouraging, trade with North Korea in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. Such countries would also like to continue their trade arrangements with the United States. That's not going to happen," she said.

Her comments are in line with U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks made earlier in the day, in which he criticized China for its increased trade with North Korea, even as Pyongyang continues its provocative behavior, such as its test-firing of an ICBM the previous day.

In a Twitter post, Trump wrote, "Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40 percent in the first quarter. So much for China working with us -- but we had to give it a try!"

He immediately prefaced those remarks by separately tweeting, "The United States made some of the worst Trade Deals in world history. Why should we continue these deals with countries that do not help us?"