N. Korean brings world closer to war: Haley at UN

Washington, Nov 30 (IANS) North Koreas latest test of an intercontinental ballistic missile has brought the world "closer to war", US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned at an emergency meeting with the members of the UN Security Council in New York and urged all nations to ties with the rogue regime.

Speaking at the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Haley said: "The dictator of North Korea made a choice yesterday that brings the world closer to war, not farther from it."

"We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it. If war does come... make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed."

Haley said the Trump administration warned North Korea that its future is in the hands of its leaders and the choice was theirs. With the launch, she said, Kim Jong-un's regime made a choice "and with this choice comes a critical choice for the rest of the world", CNN reported.

She stressed that the nations of the world "have it within our power, to further isolate, diminish, and... reverse the dangerous course of the North Korean regime" and called on all nations to "cut off all ties with North Korea.

"In addition to fully implementing all UN sanctions, all countries should sever diplomatic relations with North Korea and limit military, scientific, technical or commercial cooperation," she said.

"They must also cut off trade with the regime by stopping all imports and exports and expel all North Korean workers."

Haley said President Donald Trump had asked his Chinese counterpart to cut off oil supplies to Pyongyang. "We need China to do more," she said.

"We know the main driver of its nuclear production is oil," she said. "The major supplier of that oil is China."

Earlier on Wednesday, the White House said that Trump spoke to Xi Jinping by telephone, urging him to... convince North Korea to end its provocations and return to the path of denuclearisation".

Speaking in Missouri about tax reform, Trump derided Kim, describing him as a "sick puppy" and "little rocket man".

Xi responded by telling Trump it was Beijing's "unswerving goal to maintain peace and stability in northeast Asia and denuclearise the Korean peninsula", Xinhua news agency reported.

Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Pyongyang should stop its missile and nuclear tests but also called on Washington to cancel military exercises with South Korea in December as it would "inflame an already explosive situation".

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the US would press for tougher measures allowing North Korean shipping to be stopped and searched at high sea.

The Hwasong-15 missile, described as North Korea's "most powerful", was launched early Wednesday with a "super-large heavy warhead" which the regime claimed was capable of striking the US mainland. It landed in Japanese waters.