US Calls for UN Vote on Fresh North Korea Sanctions

The US ambassador to the United Nations said North Korea’s leadership is “begging for war” as she called on the body’s Security Council to impose tougher measures against the country following its most powerful nuclear test to date. At an emergency session in New York, the second in a week, Nikki Haley said Washington will circulate a new sanctions resolution this week, with a view of voting on it next Monday. According to Al Jazeera, the US envoy urged the 15-member group to adopt the strongest possible measures to deter North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Meanwhile, China, a top trading partner with North Korea, and Russia called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis at Monday’s meeting. “We strongly urge North Korea to face up to the firm will of the international community on the issue of de-nuclearisation of the (Korean) Peninsula and earnestly abide by the relevant resolutions of the Council,” said Liu Jieyi, the Chinese ambassador to the UN. “A comprehensive settlement to the nuclear and other issues plaguing the Korean peninsula can be arrived at solely through political diplomatic channels,” Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said.