US did not want a war but its patience was \u201cnot unlimited\u201d: Nikki Haley
\nONLINE
\nNEW YORK
\nNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un is \u201cbegging for war\u201d with his latest and most powerful nuclear bomb test, the US envoy to the United Nations has said.
\nNikki Haley told an emergency meeting of the Security Council in New York that the US did not want a war but its patience was \u201cnot unlimited\u201d. The US will table a new UN resolution shortly to toughen sanctions.
\nHowever, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called sanctions \u201cuseless, ineffective and exhausted\u201d.
\nChina, the North\u2019s main ally, has called for a return to negotiations and Switzerland has offered to mediate.
\nMeanwhile South Korea\u2019s navy carried out live-fire naval drills on Tuesday, warning that if the North provoked them \u201cwe will immediately hit back and bury them at sea\u201d, reported Yonhap news agency.
\nIt comes a day after the South\u2019s military simulated a missile attack on the North\u2019s nuclear test site.
\nReports suggest the North is preparing new test missile launches.
\nOn Sunday, it tested a bomb underground, which was thought to have a power range from 50 kilotonnes to 120 kilotonnes. A 50kt device would be about three times the size of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.
\nGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would press for tougher EU sanctions on North Korea, agreeing with US President Donald Trump by phone on the need for stricter measures.
\nJapan is planning, in the event of war, for a mass evacuation of nearly 60,000 Japanese citizens currently living in or visiting South Korea, Nikkei Asian Review reports.
\nMs Haley argued that only the strongest sanctions would enable the problem to be resolved through diplomacy.
\n\u201cWar is never something the United States wants,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want it now but our country\u2019s patience is not unlimited.\u201d
\nChina\u2019s envoy to the UN, Liu Jieyi, reiterated a call for all sides to return to negotiations.
\n\u201cThe peninsula issue must be resolved peacefully,\u201d he said. \u201cChina will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula.\u201d
\nSpeaking in Berne, Swiss President Doris Leuthard pointed to her country and Sweden\u2019s long record in neutral and discreet diplomacy.
\n\u201cI think it really is time for dialogue,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are ready to offer our role for good services as a mediator. I think in the upcoming weeks a lot will depend on how the US and China can have an influence in this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US did not want a war but its patience was \u201cnot unlimited\u201d: Nikki Haley ONLINE NEW YORK North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is \u201cbegging for war\u201d with his latest and most powerful nuclear bomb test, the US envoy to the United Nations has said. Nikki Haley told an emergency meeting of the Security Council in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n