NEW YORK \u2014 U.N. Security Council members called for further sanctions against North Korea on Monday after a powerful nuclear test explosion added another layer of urgency for diplomats wrestling with what to do about the North\u2019s persistent weapons programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scheduled after North Korea said it detonated a hydrogen bomb underground Sunday, the emergency session comes six days after the council strongly condemned Pyongyang\u2019s \u201coutrageous\u201d launch of a ballistic missile over Japan. Less than a month ago, the council imposed its stiffest sanctions so far on the reclusive nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said North Korea\u2019s relentless actions show that its leader, Kim Jong Un, is \u201cbegging for war,\u201d and the time has come for the council to adopt the strongest diplomatic measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEnough is enough. War is never something the United States wants. We don\u2019t want it now. But our country\u2019s patience is not unlimited,\u201d Haley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking one after the other, diplomats from France, Britain, Italy and elsewhere reiterated demands for the regime to halt its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs and urged further sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPyongyang poses a clear threat to international peace and security,\u201d said Sebastiano Cardi, the U.N. ambassador from Italy, which heads the North Korea sanctions compliance committee. He noted that North Korea is the only country to have tested a nuclear device in the 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The North trumpeted \u201cperfect success\u201d Sunday in its sixth nuclear test blast since 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monday\u2019s Security council meeting was requested by the United States, Japan, France, Britain and South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe cannot waste any more time. And in order to do that, we need North Korea to feel the pressure, but if they go down this road there will be consequences.\u201d Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho told reporters ahead of the council meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
French Ambassador Francois Delattre said France was calling for the adoption of new UN sanctions, swift implementation of existing ones and new separate sanctions by the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The council aimed to take a big bite out of the North Korean economy earlier this month by banning the North from exporting coal, iron, lead and seafood products. Together those are worth about a third of the country\u2019s $3 billion in exports last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The council could look to sanction other profitable North Korean exports, such as textiles. Another possibility could be tighter limits on North Korean laborers abroad; the recent sanctions barred giving any new permits for such workers. The U.S. also suggested some other ideas earlier this summer, including air and maritime restrictions and restricting oil to North Korea\u2019s military and weapons programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council Tuesday that \u201caddressing the issues plaguing the (Korean) Peninsula through sanction pressure alone is impossible\u201d because \u201cthat path does not propose any options for engaging (North Korea) in constructive negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia and China have both proposed a two-pronged approach: North Korea would suspend its nuclear and missile development, and the U.S. and South Korea would suspend their joint military exercises, which they say are defensive but Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for invasion. The North recently requested a Security Council meeting about the war games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Washington says there is no comparison between its openly conducted, internationally monitored military drills and North Korea\u2019s weapons programs, which the international community has banned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither North Korea nor South Korea is a Security Council member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.N. Security Council members called for further sanctions against North Korea on Monday after a powerful nuclear test explosion added another layer of urgency for diplomats wrestling with what to do about the North\u2019s persistent weapons programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":29732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,12,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[6791],"class_list":["post-67560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-news","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LZMYPYMRLBBDTHR7DXLI3TZ52U","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2017\/09\/04\/un-diplomats-call-for-more-sanctions-against-north-korea\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n