11 September, 2017
North Korea conducted on Sunday its strongest nuclear test explosion yet.
NATO ambassadors said after talks in Brussels on Wednesday that "it is now imperative that all nations implement more thoroughly and transparently existing U.N. sanctions" against the North.
China's envoy, Liu Jieyi, was on a U.N. Security Council visit to Ethiopia. But few in the USA government have advocated direct talks with the North Koreans until their behavior significantly changes. But the diplomats said Thursday that consultations on the USA -drafted sanctions resolution are taking place among the 15 members in NY and other world capitals.
Sanctions on North Korea have been tried, and failed. It would also ban textile exports and prohibit North Koreans from working overseas. He and May agreed to continue work on "increasing diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea".
"It's impossible to scare them", said Putin. On Sunday, Trump dispatched Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to warn of a "massive military response" if the North keeps threatening the US, while Trump hinted in a call with Japan's leader that the USA could even deploy its own nuclear arsenal. They'll be weak and they'll be more susceptible to North Korea exploiting that power.
The official was briefing reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the administration.
Hydrogen bombs, or H-bombs, are thermonuclear weapons far more powerful than ordinary fission-based atomic bombs, and use a nuclear blast to generate the intense temperatures required for fusion to take place.
The Trump administration has left the door open to talks with the North, and has tried to coax Kim into abstaining from provocative tests long enough to justify a USA return to the table.
He says he would prefer not to go the military route, but he says it could happen - and if it did, it would be "a very sad day for North Korea".
Over the weekend, North Korea conducted its strongest nuclear test explosion yet, deepening concerns about advance in its weapons development.
At a Conference on Disarmament in Geneva Wednesday, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations called Sunday's nuclear test a "gift package" for the USA - and warned there would be more.
Moon had his own stark message about the situation on the Korean Peninsula: "If North Korea's provocation doesn't stop here, I think could fall into an uncontrollable situation".
China has repeatedly said it will not tolerate an armed conflict on its doorstep and that there can be no military solution to the current tensions on the Korean Peninsula. "Only when the two are put together can it unlock the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula", Wang said. "Japan and Russian Federation will work together in the worldwide society for that", Abe said in televised statement.
Russian Federation has played a much more visible role in the North Korea crisis since the nuclear test.
Two of the system's launchers are already operational, and the remaining four were added Thursday amid protests by residents living near the site in South Korea.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Wednesday that China remains strongly opposed to it.
Also Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang reiterated China's opposition to South Korea's deployment of a U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense System, also known as THAAD, which is meant to protect against North Korean missile attacks.
China has expressed anger over the deployment, saying that the system's powerful radar can be potentially used to peer deep into its territory and monitor its flights and missile launches.
With South Korea, the country most directly threatened, Trump has taken the unusual step of highlighting disagreements between the USA and its treaty ally, including by floating the possibility he could pull out of a trade deal with South Korea to protest trade imbalances.
Moon said Wednesday that the situation could get out of hand if North Korea's missile and nuclear tests aren't stopped.
His comments in the Estonian capital Thursday follow Pyongyang's latest and the most powerful test explosion Sunday of what it says was a thermonuclear weapon built for missiles capable of reaching the USA mainland.
Mogherini adds: "We believe that more diplomatic pressure, more economic pressure in this respect could make a difference".
Anthony Ruggiero, a sanctions expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the next logical step is for the U.S.to impose "secondary sanctions" targeting banks or businesses in China that do business with North Korea, a tactic the USA used effectively to push Iran to the table over its nuclear program several years ago.
While it's not clear how - and if - the North Korea issue will be resolved, the United States has flatly rejected a Chinese proposal, backed by Russian Federation, for a suspension of hostilities on both sides.
He said the United Nations should take "necessary measures", but added that sanctions and pressure should spur dialogue and negotiation between the sides toward the goal of a peaceful solution on the Korean Peninsula.
The United States wants the U.N. Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban its, and subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
