![U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley / [Image screenshot from CNN via YouTube:https://youtu.be/38wl-07d8RI]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/7/4/660x290/b_502x220x82/us-ambassador-to-the-un-nikki-haley-image-screenshot-from-cnn-via-youtubehttpsyoutube38wl-07d8ri_1433193.jpg "U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley / [Image screenshot from CNN via YouTube:https://youtu.be/38wl-07d8RI]")
On Wednesday, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, reportedly blasted Beijing and Russia for helping North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The condemnation was over Pyongyang's launching of a long-range ballistic missile that happened at the beginning of the week which is said to have the capacity to reach the U.S.
This is the first time that North Korea has revealed what the U.S. has always feared that North Korea had the capability to strike America. It is still unknown if they're able to attach a nuclear warhead on such a missile or even if one would be able to survive atmosphere re-entry in order to complete a nuclear strike.
Trump's threats of war
Earlier in the year, President Trump threatened to take military action against North Korea if China did not try to rein them in. It's been reported that there have been some efforts to do so through sanctions but they clearly have not been enough to prevent Pyongyang from continuing their ballistic missile tests.
At the time, Trump told the Chinese government that he was willing to go it alone and apparently "deployed" a naval strike group to the area. But experts have made it quite clear that without China -- which provides 85 percent of North Korea's lifeline -- the U.S. "going it alone" would be very unpopular, to say the least.
At the time both Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had made aggressive gestures against North Korea saying that military action was on the table.
Haley referred to this again during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council saying that the North was "quickly closing off the possibility of a diplomatic solution." She added that America's military might was considerable and that the Trump administration would use them if they had to but also said they preferred to not go in that direction.
U.S. and South Korean forces have stepped up their training exercises for a possible confrontation which suggests that their options on the ground are still a goal.
Trump is still 'undecided'
The view, however, remains that the Trump administration really doesn't know what to do with North Korea at this point as previous administrations have already considered military action and have always come to the same result, that military action would be devastating for South Korea.
During the last year of the Obama administration, there was controversy about the U.S. government deploying the THAAD missile system to South Korea which China and Russia -- who have reportedly started to trade with North Korea again -- were opposed to. Along with armed drones, the U.S. has sent the controversial missile system. President Trump has said that he's thinking about "very severe things" in response to North Korea but said that it doesn't mean he's going to do them.
