Donald Trump’s spokeswoman Sarah Sanders clarifies that the US is not seeking regime change in North Korea, but is focused on the « denuclearisation » of the Korean peninsula.
WASHINGTON: The United States battled to maintain international solidarity in the face of North Korea’s nuclear threat on Thursday (Nov 30) as Russia warned that sanctions have failed and China side-stepped talk of an oil embargo.
The stakes could scarcely be higher in the stand-off, after the United States warned that Kim Jong-Un’s regime would be « utterly destroyed » if its pursuit of a long-range nuclear missile arsenal provokes a military response.
But US-led efforts to isolate Kim, cripple his economy and force him to negotiate his own disarmament failed to prevent this week’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching US cities.
Washington urged tough action at an emergency meeting of the Security Council and US President Donald Trump began on Thursday by complaining that North Korea’s neighbour China has failed to convince Kim to back down.
« The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man, » Trump said, in a tweet, using his favourite term of abuse for the North Korean dictator.
« Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up with living in such horrible conditions. »
Trump’s spokeswoman Sarah Sanders later clarified that the United States is not seeking regime change in North Korea, but is focused on the « denuclearisation » of the Korean peninsula.
And Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said Washington would pursue « unrelenting » efforts on the diplomatic front, including before the UN Security Council, to bring Pyongyang to heel.
« Our diplomats will speak from a position of strength because we do have military options, » he said.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who met Thursday with Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, was more cautious in his response to China – but did press for tougher action to cut of the North’s fuel supplies.
« I think the Chinese are doing a lot. We do think they could do more with the oil and we’re really asking them to please restrain more of the oil, not cut it off completely, » he said – a move that would nevertheless deal a crippling blow to Pyongyang’s economy.
