UN Ambassador Nikki Haley isn’t ruling out a US strike against North Korea if it tests a sixth nuclear device — while President Trump says the UN Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on the hermit kingdom.
“We are not going to do anything unless he gives us reason to do something,” Haley said on NBC’s “Today,” referring to saber-rattling despot Kim Jong Un.
“If you see him attack a military base, if you see some sort of intercontinental ballistic missile, then obviously we’re going to do that,” she said. “But right now, we’re saying, ‘Don’t test, don’t use nuclear missiles, don’t try and do any more actions,’ and I think he’s understanding that.”
She also praised China’s involvement in trying to pressure Pyongyang to cease missile testing.
The White House said in a statement Monday that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed the “urgency of the threat posed by North Korea.”
Trump has repeatedly promised that China will earn a better trade deal with the US if it helps to apply pressure on its longtime ally.
When asked what would happen if North Korea tests another missile or nuclear device, Haley told NBC: “I think then the president steps in and decides what’s going to happen.”
North Korea has been aggressively pursuing a decades-long goal of putting a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, capable of reaching the US mainland.
South Korean officials say there’s a chance the country will conduct its sixth nuke test or its maiden test launch of an ICBM around the 85th anniversary of its military on Tuesday.
“What we’re dealing with is a leader who is flailing right now and he’s trying to show his citizens he has muscle,” Haley told “CBS This Morning.”
Meanwhile, Trump said the UN Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on North Korea amid the rising tensions over its missile and nuclear programs.
Trump added that the council failed to act in response to a recent Syrian chemical weapons attack — which he called a “great disappointment,” Reuters reported.
“The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” Trump told ambassadors at the White House from countries on the council.
“This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem and it’s a problem that we have to finally solve,” he said. “People put blindfolds on for decades and now it’s time to solve the problem.”
The president earlier spoke with the Chinese president, who called for restraint when dealing with North Korea.
Xi said his country “strongly opposes” actions that violate Security Council resolutions and he hoped “the parties concerned will exercise restraint and avoid actions that aggravate tensions on the peninsula,” USA Today reported, citing the official Xinhua news agency.
“Xi noted that if the parties shoulder their due responsibilities and meet each other halfway, they can solve the nuclear issue of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and denuclearize the Korean peninsula,” Xinhua added.
The Trump administration has warned that all options — including a military strike — are “on the table” to block North Korea’s ambitions of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the US mainland.
The phone call was the leaders’ second conversation since their Mar-a-Lago meeting April 6.
Trump also spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about maintaining close contact as Japan’s Self-Defense Force held joint exercises with the USS Carl Vinson off the Korean peninsula, NBC News reported.
“We completely agreed to strongly demand that North Korea, who’s been repeatedly dangerous and provocative, show restraint,” Abe told reporters Monday. “We’ll maintain close contact with US and high level of monitoring and surveillance as we respond firmly on North Korea.”
Two Japanese destroyers have joined the carrier group for drills, and South Korea said Monday it also was in talks about holding joint naval exercises.
The deployment of the Carl Vinson has riled Pyongyang, which said it was “an extremely dangerous act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade the North.”
“The United States should not run amok and should consider carefully any catastrophic consequence from its foolish military provocative act,” Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, said in a commentary Monday, NBC News reported.
Vice President Mike Pence last week said “the era of strategic patience is over” regarding US policy toward North Korea, as it continues its missile program and nuclear weapons tests.
Trump has told Xi that China could get better trade terms from Washington if it helps rein in nuclear threats from its longtime ally.
Meanwhile, North Korea detained a third US citizen in Pyongyang on Saturday.
Pyongyang University of Science and Technology identified him as Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, USA Today reported.
The college said he taught at PUST for several weeks before he was arrested as he was about to leave the country.
“We understand that this detention is related to an investigation into matters that are not connected in any way with the work of PUST,” the college said in a statement.
“We cannot comment on anything that Mr. Kim may be alleged to have done that is not related to his teaching work and not on the PUST campus. Life on campus and the teaching at PUST is continuing as normal for the Spring semester.”
He is believed to be the third American detained by North Korea.
With Post wires