North Korean regime to be ‘utterly destroyed’, US warns

North Korea’s regime will be “utterly destroyed’’ if war breaks out, the US has warned.

Kim Jong-un with his generals alongside the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile. Picture: AP

North Korea’s regime will be “utterly destroyed” if war breaks out, the US warned yesterday, as the Trump administration urged the world to cut ties with Pyongyang for launching a new-generation intercontinental ballistic missile.

President Donald Trump yet again led the war of words, describing North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as “a sick puppy”, while US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley called on world leaders to end diplomatic and trade ties — including a demand that China cut all oil supplies to its neighbour.

“The dictator of North Korea made a choice yesterday that brings the world closer to war, not farther from it,” Ms Haley told the council, referring to Wednesday’s launch of the Hwasong-15 weapons system.

“If war comes, make no mistake: the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed.”

She added: “We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it.”

Ms Haley said “we need China to do more”. Mr Trump had phoned Chinese President Xi Jinping to explain that “we’ve come to the point where China must cut off the oil for North Korea”.

“That would be a pivotal step in the world’s effort to stop this international pariah,” she said.

Ms Haley warned that if Beijing failed to cut off oil supplies “we can take the oil situation into our own hands”.

Mr Trump tweeted about his call to Mr Xi: “Additional sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today. This situation will be handled!”

Mr Xi told Mr Trump, according to Xinhua, that it is China’s “unswerving goal to maintain peace and stability in northeast Asia and denuclearise the Korean peninsula”.

The Security Council condemned the latest missile test, without approving new sanctions.

Russian ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia, while agreeing that Pyongyang should cease testing, also called on the US to cancel military exercises planned for this month with South Korean forces, which would “inflame an already explosive situation”.

“It is essential to take a step back,” Mr Nebenzia said, urging Washington “to revise its policy of mutual threats and intimidation”.

US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley. Picture: Getty Images

China’s Global Times editorialised yesterday that “North Korea should realise that it will never have ‘balanced power’ with the US, and that the international community will definitely not recognise its nuclear status — it cannot make the UN succumb to it.”

North Korea, the newspaper said, would be the biggest loser from the tension.

However, it added: “North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons illustrates that America’s policy towards it has failed.”

Beijing’s growing impatience with Kim is reflected in and fuelled by unconfirmed reports about the poor treatment accorded to Mr Xi’s recent special envoy to North Korea, Song Tao, last month.

Mr Song spent four days in Pyongyang without any contact from Kim, who during that time visited a car factory where he said pressure from outside would only reinforce North Koreans’ determination to “stand up for ourselves”.

A leading Chinese academic, who does not want his name published, said: “The North Korea issue is in essence a Kim issue. He should be got rid of.”

North Korea expert Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, said: “Pyongyang decision-makers see the ability to hit the US as their best, and perhaps only, guarantee of long-term political survival. They are not going to stop testing until they reach that goal. They are close to their Holy Grail now.”

More tests will follow, he said, “and no amount of UN Security Council votes, presidential tweets, or tough statements are going to change that”.

North Korean state media said the missile launched on Wednesday was more sophisticated than any previously tested by Pyongyang.

“The ICBM Hwasong-15 type weaponry system is an intercontinental ballistic rocket tipped with super-large heavy warhead which is capable of striking the whole mainland of the US,” the North’s official news agency KCNA said.

Additional reporting: AFP