Ambassador Nikki Haley: Kim Jong Un ‘Begging for War,’ UN Must Impose Stronger Sanctions

[brid video=”161852″ player=”2077″ title=”‘Begging for War’ Nikki Haley at UN Security Council Briefing on North Korea”]

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea that Kim Jong Un was “begging for war.” The meeting comes a day after North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.

“We have engaged in numerous direct and multilateral talks with the North Korean regime, and time after time they have not worked,” Ambassador Haley said Sunday. “The time for half measures by the Security Council is over.”

Ambassador Haley said Kim Jong Un has repeatedly demonstrated he doesn’t understand the responsibility that comes with being a nuclear power, adding that his “abusive use of ballistic missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war.”

In August, the Trump Administration scored a major victory when the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose severe sanctions on Pyongyang. The U.S.-led resolution in response to their intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program will cost the North Korean regime roughly one-third of their exports, totaling more than $1 billion.

But without stronger pressure from China, the North Korean leader hasn’t ended the provocations.

“We cannot kick this can down the road any longer,” Ambassador Halley added.

President Trump indicated on Twitter he was willing and looking into “other options” to ratchet up the economic pressure on nations who can do more, particularly China. He tweeted earlier that the nuclear test was “an embarrassment to China” and should serve as proof to the new South Korean president that their new approach won’t work. He added that time for “appeasement” was over.

“The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea,” President Trump tweeted.