The United States says North Korea leader Kim Jong Un is "begging for war" following the rogue state's most powerful nuclear test to date.

The American ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said her country did not want a conflict with the Pyongyang regime but its patience was "not unlimited".

Addressing the UN Security Council, Ms Haley said "enough is enough" and warned its approach of imposing "incremental" sanctions against the secretive nation had not worked.

US ambassador to UN: North Korea 'begging for war'

The envoy urged the 15-member council, which discussed the crisis, to adopt the "strongest possible measures".

She said the US will come up with a new UN sanctions resolution and aims to put it to a vote next Monday.


According to South Korea's defence ministry, the North appears to be preparing to launch ballistic missiles, possibly intercontinental.

It comes after the rogue state detonated what it called a hydrogen bomb on Sunday - its sixth and biggest nuclear detonation.

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The regime said the test was a "perfect success" and involved a bomb designed to be mounted on its newly-developed intercontinental ballistic missile.

The device, which is thought to have been about five times larger than the bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki in World War II, caused a manmade earthquake.

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Ms Haley said: "Despite our efforts the North Korea nuclear programme is more advanced and more dangerous than ever.

"War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited."

US gives military warning to N Korea

America's defence secretary, General James Mattis, said on Sunday any threat to the US, its territories or its allies by Pyongyang would be met with a "massive military response".

He said America was "not looking to the total annihilation" of the North but "we have many options to do so".

South Korea will now ramp up its own military response. It has fired missiles into the sea to simulate an attack on the North's main nuclear testing site and is also preparing fresh military drills with the US.

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US giving 'mixed signals' on North Korea

The latest test by the Pyongyang regime came less than a week after the council strongly condemned the North's "outrageous" launch of a ballistic missile over Japan.

Meanwhile China, which is the North's biggest trading partner, has said President Trump's threat to cut off trade with countries that deal with Pyongyang is unacceptable.

S Korea respond to the North with military drills

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said it was not fair - as Beijing had worked on resolving the crisis via talks and that effort was not being recognised.

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China's UN envoy Liu Jieyi has warned it will not allow chaos and war on the Korean peninsula.

He said the situation was "deteriorating constantly, falling into a vicious circle" and urged the North to "stop taking actions that are wrong".

He also called on all parties to "seriously consider" Beijing's proposal for a joint suspension of Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear programmes and military drills by the US and South Korea.