The United States’ top diplomat, who has been on the job six months, says she is “done” with diplomacy when it comes to North Korea.
On Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley tweeted, “Done talking about NKorea.China is aware they must act.Japan & SKorea must inc pressure.Not only a US problem.It will req an intl solution.”
Done talking about NKorea.China is aware they must act.Japan & SKorea must inc pressure.Not only a US problem.It will req an intl solution.
— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) July 30, 2017
Tensions with North Korea have heated up after the country tested what is believed to be their first intercontinental ballistic missiles. On Friday, it tested a missile that flew 45 minutes, 2,300 miles high and for a distance of 621 miles, CNN reported.
If the missile were fired on a flatter, standard trajectory, it could reach Los Angeles, Denver or Chicago, with the possible ability to reach New York and Boston, said David Wright, a missile expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
President Trump denounced the launch: “Threatening the world, these weapons and tests further isolate North Korea, weaken its economy and deprive its people,” he said in a written statement. “The United States will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland and protect our allies in the region.”
Trump has leaned on China and South Korea to take more decisive action in response to North Korea. In two tweets on Sunday, he excoriated China for not taking more action.
I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017
…they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017
In a longer statement posted on Twitter on Sunday, Haley said “the time for talk is over” and would not seek an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. She said that North Korea “is already subject to numerous Security Council resolutions that they violate with impunity.”
But analysts say her statements have undermined the United Nations, taking diplomacy off the table in dealing with North Korea. “Problem is she makes herself and the UN process irrelevant if she says there’s nothing we can do here. Then we stop listening to her and the UN becomes totally (pointless),” John Delury, an expert on Chinese-Korean relations at Seoul’s Yonsei University, told CNN.
