Yesterday the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.) Nikki Haley told the President of the U.N. Security Council, Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi, that she wanted to open the emergency session on North Korea.This came after America, Japan and South Korea called the urgent meeting following North Korea's successful launch of a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Tuesday.
What did Haley say at the meeting?
Nikki Haley warned at the U.N. Security Council meeting that the United States is ready to wield the "full range" of their abilities in order to protect not only themselves but also their allies.
She mentioned that one of those capabilities lies in America's "considerable military forces" but stated that the country would prefer to not use them unless they had to. She also referred to North Korea's Tuesday missile test of an ICMB as "destabilizing escalation" and warned that Kim Jong-un's actions are rapidly closing any chance of a diplomatic solution being able to take place.
She also mentioned how there are countries that are allowing and supporting trade with North Korea in violation of resolutions passed by the U.N. Security Council. She, then, issued a not so veiled threat, saying that these countries would also like to keep their trade agreements with America going but "that's not going to happen."
What can the U.N. Security Council do?
Nikki Haley also added America would soon bring a resolution to the U.N.
Security Council to raise the international response in a way that is directly equivalent to the actions that North Korea has taken. The sanctions that can be imposed on North Korea can be economic, diplomatic or political, but what the Security Council can do is limited. The last years of sanctions on the North Korea have done little to halt their pursuit of a nuclear weapon.
A new round of sanctions on the country could include options like an oil embargo, restrictions on coal exports and intercepting cargo ships. There could also be a global ban on Air Koryo, North Korea's only airline. More North Korean names could be put on to the existing assets and travel ban. Finally, there would be the option to be able to punish any Chinese banks that do business with the country.
Getting a consensus on sanctions may be difficult as America is taking a different stance on the issue then Russia and China, who are supporting a "freeze for freeze" option. This would temporary stop joint American-South Korean military exercises and, in return, North Korea would suspend any missile or nuclear tests. Odds are the U.N. Security Council will likely be divided over what next step to take.
