Haley: US would ‘prefer’ not to use military force against North Korea

United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley warned once again on Wednesday that the United States could use military force against North Korea, though she said that Washington would “prefer not to have to go in that direction.”

Speaking at a hastily called meeting of the U.N. Security Council, Haley chastised Pyongyang’s recent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile — its first successful trial of such a weapon. 

“The United States does not seek conflict. In fact, we seek to avoid it. We seek only the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and an end to the threatening actions of North Korea. Regrettably, we’re witnessing just the opposite.”

{mosads}The test, she said, signaled that the door to a diplomatic solution to North Korea’s rapidly advancing and increasingly aggressive weapons programs is rapidly closing.

“Their actions are quickly closing off the possibility of a diplomatic solution,” Haley said. She also said that the U.S. would propose new U.N. sanctions against North Korea in the coming days.

In a swipe at China, Pyongyang’s only major ally and largest trade partner, Haley assailed countries that continue to allow or encourage trade with North Korea and threatened to cut off commerce between those countries and the U.S. if their trade with the reclusive regime violates U.N. sanctions.

The North’s missile test on Tuesday marked a significant milestone for the reclusive regime in its stated goal of striking the U.S. with a nuclear-tipped projectile. 

The Trump administration confirmed Tuesday that the missile was, in fact, an ICBM. The U.S. and South Korean militaries began firing ballistic missiles into the sea off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast on Wednesday, defying calls by Russia and China to halt military exercises in order to de-escalate tensions with Pyongyang.

In the months after taking office, Trump sought to increase pressure on Beijing to rein in North Korea. But he has cast doubt on the efficacy of that plan recently, writing in a tweet in June that it “has not worked out.” 

In another tweet Wednesday morning, he accused China of increasing trade with North Korea in spite of the weapons tests.

“So much for China working with us,” he wrote.