The United States warned North Korea's leadership it would be "utterly destroyed" if war were to break out, after Pyongyang test fired its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile, putting the U.S. mainland within range.
The Trump administration has repeatedly said all options were on the table in dealing with North Korea's ballistic and nuclear weapons program, including military ones, but that it still prefers a diplomatic option.
Still, speaking at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley warned:
"We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it. If war does come, it will be because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday ... And if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed."
Haley said the United States has asked China to cut off oil supply to North Korea, a drastic step that Beijing - the North's neighbour and sole major trading partner - has so far refrained from doing. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping talked on the phone earlier on Wednesday.
"Just spoke to President Xi Jinping of China concerning the provocative actions of North Korea. Additional major sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today. This situation will be handled!" Trump wrote on Twitter.
Previous U.S. administrations have failed to stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and a sophisticated missile program. Trump has also struggled to contain Pyongyang since he came to office in January.
Urging China to use its leverage on Pyongyang and promising more sanctions against North Korea are two strategies that have borne little fruit so far.
In a speech in Missouri about taxes, Trump, who has traded insults with the North in the past, referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with a derisive nickname. "Little Rocket Man. He is a sick puppy," Trump said.
FAR INTO SPACE
North Korea, which conducted its sixth and largest nuclear bomb test in September, has tested dozens of ballistic missiles under Kim's leadership in defiance of international sanctions.
Pyongyang has said its weapons programmes are a necessary defence against U.S. plans to invade. The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, denies any such intention.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called on North Korea on Wednesday to stop its weapons tests and for the United States and South Korea not to hold military drills in December as it would "inflame an already explosive situation."
North Korea said the new missile soared to an altitude of about 4,475 km (2,780 miles) - more than 10 times the height of the International Space Station - and flew 950 km (590 miles) during its 53-minute flight.
It flew higher and longer than any North Korean missile before, landing in the sea near Japan.
Photos released by North Korean state media appeared to show a missile being positioned on the launch site by a mobile vehicle, designed to allow the missile to be fired from a wider number of areas to prevent it being intercepted before launch.
Kim is shown laughing and smiling with officials both next to the missile as it is readied, and in a control booth. The launch itself shows the missile lifting off amid smoke and fire, with Kim watching from a field in the distance.
U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded from satellite and other data that the test missile was fired from a fixed position, not a mobile launcher, three U.S. officials said.
One official said the test appears to demonstrate a more powerful North Korean solid-fuel propulsion system, especially in its second stage rocket.
The photos also revealed a larger diameter missile, which could allow it to carry a larger warhead and use a more powerful engine, said David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a U.S.-based nonprofit science advocacy group.
MORE SANCTIONS LIKELY
Pyongyang claimed it had “finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force".
Three U.S. intelligence analysts said they were trying to assess whether the remarks meant Kim might now be open to a longer halt in testing in order to reopen negotiations that might help prevent, or at least defer, the imposition of additional sanctions.
The officials also noted, however, that North Korea has not proved it has an accurate guidance system for an intercontinental ballistic missile or a re-entry vehicle capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and surviving a return from space through Earth’s atmosphere, meaning further tests would be needed.
An international meeting in Canada in January is designed to produce "better ideas" to ease tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile tests, Canadian officials said on Wednesday, although North Korea itself will not be invited.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday the United States has "a long list of additional potential sanctions, some of which involve potential financial institutions, and the Treasury Department will be announcing those when they’re ready to roll those out."
The new Hwasong-15, named after the planet Mars, was a more advanced version of an ICBM tested twice in July, North Korea said. It was designed to carry a "super-large heavy warhead".
In just three months, South Korea hosts the Winter Olympics at a resort just 80 km (50 miles) from the heavily fortified border with North Korea.
Reuters
Thu Nov 30 2017
United States ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Nikki Haley speaks during a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss a North Korean missile launch at UN headquarters in New York, U.S., November 29, 2017. - REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Misi ditangguh, delegasi Malaysia berlepas pulang
Delegasi Malaysia dalam misi Break The Siege Freedom Flotilla To Gaza akan berlepas pulang malam ini.
Keputusan dicapai selepas Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) tidak dapat meneruskan misi selepas Republik Guinea-Bissau menarik balik kebenaran menggunakan bendera untuk dua kapal yang digunakan.
Laporan lanjut bersama Syaff Shukri di Istanbul.
Keputusan dicapai selepas Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) tidak dapat meneruskan misi selepas Republik Guinea-Bissau menarik balik kebenaran menggunakan bendera untuk dua kapal yang digunakan.
Laporan lanjut bersama Syaff Shukri di Istanbul.
Mahmoud Abbas menyeru semua negara iktiraf Palestin
Presiden Palestin Mahmoud Abbas menyeru semua negara untuk mengiktiraf Palestin sebagai negara merdeka serta mengiktiraf ahli penuh Persatuan Bangsa Bangsa Bersatu (PBB). Beliau diberi peluang berucap di Mesyuarat Khas Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF) di Arab Saudi hari ini.
Mesyuarat Khas WEF: Rangkuman hari pertama, tiga kayu ukur ekonomi perlu ada
Jurang pemulihan ekonomi menjadi modal mula mesyuarat khas World Economic Forum di Riyadh.
Bagi Malaysia, kelebihan asean di ketengahkan, manakala negara maju mahu keadaan ekonomi yang lebih sekata.
Persoalan besar adalah bagaimana titik keseimbangan dapat dicapai?
Najib Aroff bawakan laporan.
Bagi Malaysia, kelebihan asean di ketengahkan, manakala negara maju mahu keadaan ekonomi yang lebih sekata.
Persoalan besar adalah bagaimana titik keseimbangan dapat dicapai?
Najib Aroff bawakan laporan.
SPRM mohon maklumat dari Jerman berhubung dana 1MDB disyaki beli kereta mewah
Ia berhubung laporan kereta mewah dirampas oleh pihak berkuasa Jerman di Munich yang dipercayai berkait dengan kes 1MDB.
P.Pinang kerjasama dengan Persekutuan teruskan usaha tarik pelaburan semikonduktor
Kerajaan Pulau Pinang akan bekerjasama dengan Kerajaan Persekutuan untuk meneruskan usaha menarik pelaburan dalam sektor semikonduktor, termasuk segmen reka bentuk litar bersepadu (IC) di negeri itu.
Akta baharu berkuat kuasa 1 Jun
Akta Keselamatan Dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan (Pindaan) 2022 akan berkuat kuasa pada 1 Jun ini sekali gus meningkatkan lagi tahap keselamatan dan kesihatan di tempat kerja di seluruh negara, kata Menteri Sumber Manusia Steven Sim.
Pelaburan baharu memberi cabaran baharu kepada Malaysia
Pelaburan baharu yang diterima Malaysia memberi cabaran baharu khususnya dalam memberi fokus dalam bidang teknologi dan juga Latihan dan Pendidikan Teknikal dan Vokasional (TVET).
AWANI Borneo [28/04/2024] – Daftar di Yayasan Sarawak | Kos ganti paip RM9 bilion | Tarikan Kitaro
Laporan berita padat dan ringkas dari Borneo bersama Assim Hassan
#AWANIBorneo 28 April 2024
- Kerajaan Sarawak tanggung kos pelajaran anak mendiang Joanna
- Kebocoran paip penyumbang utama air tidak terhasil
- Kitaro magnet tarik pengunjung RWMF 2024
#AWANInews
#AWANIBorneo 28 April 2024
- Kerajaan Sarawak tanggung kos pelajaran anak mendiang Joanna
- Kebocoran paip penyumbang utama air tidak terhasil
- Kitaro magnet tarik pengunjung RWMF 2024
#AWANInews
Kesatuan Ragbi Malaysia harap individu disyaki pecah amanah didakwa segera
Kesatuan Ragbi Malaysia (KRM) berharap individu di sebalik isu pecah amanah disyaki berlaku dalam pengendalian akaun bank badan induk itu didakwa segera.
PM adakan pertemuan dengan Presiden Rwanda
Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mengadakan pertemuan dua hala dengan Presiden Rwanda Paul Kagame di luar Mesyuarat Khas Forum Ekonomi Sedunia (WEF) pada Ahad.
Korea Utara lancar ujian peluru berpandu Hwasong-15 antara benua - Laporan
Peluru berpandu itu dilancarkan dari Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Pyongyang pada petang Sabtu.
Korea Utara ikrar jadi negara kuasa nuklear paling berkuasa
Pemimpin Korea Utara, Kim Jong-un berkata negaranya berhasrat memiliki pasukan kuasa nuklear terbesar di dunia pada satu hari nanti.
Korea Utara anjur perarakan, pamer aset ketenteraan
Buat kali pertama dalam tempoh dua tahun, Pyongyang pamer peluru berpandu antara benua atau ICBM.
Malaysia kutuk pelancaran peluru berpandu antara benua terbaharu oleh DPRK
Malaysia kesal dan mengutuk sekeras-kerasnya Republik Demokratik Rakyat Korea (DPRK) kerana terus mengingkari gesaan demi gesaan oleh masyarakat antarabangsa.
Pyongyang umum kejayaan uji peluru berpandu balistik Hwasong-15
Pyongyang mendakwa keupayaan senjata terbaharunya itu mampu menyerang seluruh Amerika Syarikat.
Korea Utara sekali lagi lancar peluru berpandu balistik
Korea Utara telah lancarkan satu lagi peluru berpandu balistik, siri terbaru ujian yang meningkatkan tekanan dengan negara jiran dan Amerika Syarikat.
Korea Utara semakin hampir siapkan peluru berpandu antara benua
Korea Utara bakal melancarkan ujian peluru berpandu balistik antara benua (ICBM) dalam tahun ini.