US warns N.Korea will be 'destroyed' if threats continue

US warns N.Korea will be 'destroyed' if threats continue




US warns N.Korea will be 'destroyed' if threats continue

Brian KNOWLTON
AFPSeptember 18, 2017


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US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley (L) and White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, again warned North Korea to end its threatening ways (AFP Photo/Mike Theiler)More


Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump's administration ramped up the pressure on North Korea on Sunday ahead of a week of high-stakes diplomacy at the United Nations, warning Pyongyang will be "destroyed" if it refuses to end its "reckless" nuclear and ballistic missile drive.

With US officials and their allies scrambling to find ways to contain an increasingly belligerent Pyongyang, the US president will address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and then confer Thursday with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts on the sidelines of the meeting.

Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-In spoke by phone Saturday night and pledged "stronger pressure" on Kim Jong-Un's regime, the South's presidential office said, adding that the North must be made to realize that "further provocation" would put it on a "path of collapse."

The Security Council last Monday imposed a new raft of sanctions on North Korea -- but their impact depends largely on whether China, Pyongyang's ally and main economic partner, will fully implement them and on Russia, which is hosting tens of thousands of North Korean workers.

Washington's ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, kept up the rhetorical pressure ahead of the upcoming meetings in New York, asserting that if the North should pose a serious threat to the US or its allies, "North Korea will be destroyed."

Trump's earlier warning he would rain "fire and fury" on a recalcitrant North Korea, she said, was "not an empty threat."

"None of us want war," Haley added in an interview on CNN. "We wanted to be responsible and go to all diplomatic means to get their attention first. If that doesn't work, General Mattis" -- the US defense secretary -- "will take care of it."

- Enforcement in focus -

As the US and its allies emphasize the diplomatic track, South Korea is also deploying a state-of-the-art US missile defense system. In their latest call, the White House said Trump and Moon had committed to "take steps to strengthen deterrence and defense capabilities" of South Korea, offering no details of how it might do so.

Analysts say that in the event of hostilities, millions of people in the Seoul area -- as well as the 30,000 US troops in South Korea -- would be vulnerable to attack by the thousands of artillery pieces the North has positioned near the border, with potentially staggering casualties.

So far, every effort to persuade the North to back away from its fast-developing nuclear and missile programs -- including its most powerful nuclear test yet, on September 3 -- has proved futile, at times even seeming to prompt new acts of defiance from Pyongyang.

The North's latest show of resistance came when it launched a long-range missile over Japan on Friday, just four days after the UN Security Council had passed a tough new package of sanctions.

At the request of the United States, the Security Council will hold a ministerial-level meeting Thursday on ways to enforce the latest sanctions, which include an export ban on textiles, freezing work permits to North Korean guest workers and capping oil supplies.

- 'Rocket Man' -

Haley said sanctions had already provided a "punch in the gut" to Pyongyang but that strict enforcement was crucial.

Separately, Trump's national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, agreed that "the critical thing is going to be to get all countries, every one, to do all they can to enforce those sanctions, to do everything they can, short of a military conflict, to resolve this problem."

But if diplomacy and economic pressure fail, he added, "We have to prepare all options."

Pyongyang, an insular country with few outside contacts, says it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself from "hostile" US forces and is determined to build the capacity to deliver a nuclear warhead that could hit the US mainland.

North Korea said Saturday it was bent on nothing less than military "equilibrium" with the United States.

As his administration continued its efforts to rein in the North, Trump himself gave a more unbridled account of his latest diplomatic contacts.

"I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night. Asked him how Rocket Man is doing. Long gas lines forming in North Korea. Too bad!" Trump tweeted, apparently finding a new nickname for Kim (McMaster confirmed that that was probably Trump's intention).

Whether there are gas lines is unclear; very few people own cars in North Korea, outside military and government officials.



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Top Reactions

George13 hours ago
The easy way to control North Korea is stop all imports from China coming into America, China will loose 40 million dollars per day. China will stop North Korea in about one hour!!!!
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Steve10 hours ago
Now what would have Obama have done? Oh yeah - nothing.
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Krystle12 hours ago
These threats aren't holding any weight if they aren't followed through. I'm a President Trump supporter and I like it when things get done. If I wanted to hear threats, peace talks, free give-aways or poems- I would have voted for Bernie.
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rick9 hours ago
when we strike, it should be shock and awe x 100. every known offensive rocket and artillery position should be taken out at the same time.this should be when we know the whereabouts of rocketman and his most loyal brass so the can be taken out at the same time. conventional weapons would be preferred, but if tactical nukes are necessary, so be it. they asked for it by not complying. if we could open a back channel to non- loyal generals to stand down after the attack in exchange for their leadership in the post- attack country that would end their nuclear and rocket program, maybe they would be open to sharing in the profits of grater economic cooperation between the north and south eyeing how much east germany prospered after reunification with west germany. it could be done, but it would have to be done with nearly perfect precision.More
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James10 hours ago
The UN should be destroyed and hauled off to a NJ landfill where it belongs!! // James "Gang of One"
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bruce-o8 hours ago
The sooner that Kim and his minions are taken out the better.
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StevenS7 hours ago
What are the Europeans doing? Nothing as usual.
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Mark10112 hours ago
All Options Are On the Table. That is a veiled threat used to provoke North Korea into making their threats.
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MarvinDorfman9 hours ago
The U.S. does not want North Korea to know how the limits of their anti-missile technology, which is why we havent used it yet. Remember at this point, we have shown it is successful again a SINGLE MISSILE which we knew was going to be fired in advance, and its trajectory. If NK launches ten missiles at the same time, with a warhead on one or two, we do not know if the system is that capable at this point. Also if those ten missiles are launched at multiple targets, we really dont know the anti-missile capabilities. Those of us old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan spoke of the need for such a system and asked for money for military research, he was mocked by the press who referred to it as "Star Wars" and that he was a fool.More
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JAMES11 hours ago
Every missile Kim lunches shoot down as soon as it's in international waters, Sanctions Will Work But it will take time, He's Crying for a War to rebuild and restructure Food, Aid, Medical, Medicine,Oil, Many Innocent PEOPLE will Die, Yes Kim May DIE but be a Hero to his Army's Glorified. I DON'T or Never HEARD Russia Tradeing with N.K.
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