US battles for global approach on N.Korea amid Russia, China doubts

THE United States battled to maintain international solidarity in the face of North Korea's nuclear threat Thursday as Russia warned that sanctions have failed and China side-stepped talk of an oil embargo.
The stakes could scarcely be higher in the stand-off, after the United States warned that Kim Jong-Un's regime would be "utterly destroyed" if its pursuit of a long-range nuclear missile arsenal provokes a military response.
But US-led efforts to isolate Kim, cripple his economy and force him to negotiate his own disarmament failed to prevent this week's test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching US cities.
Washington urged tough action at an emergency meeting of the Security Council and US President Donald Trump began Thursday by complaining that North Korea's neighbor China has failed to convince Kim to back down.
"The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man," Trump said, in a tweet, using his favorite term of abuse for the North Korean dictator.
"Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up with living in such horrible conditions."
Trump's spokeswoman Sarah Sanders later clarified that the United States is not seeking regime change in North Korea, but is focused on the "denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula.
And Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said Washington would pursue "unrelenting" efforts on the diplomatic front, including before the UN Security Council, to bring Pyongyang to heel.
"Our diplomats will speak from a position of strength because we do have military options," he said.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who met Thursday with Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, was more cautious in his response to China – but did press for tougher action to cut of the North's fuel supplies.
"I think the Chinese are doing a lot. We do think they could do more with the oil and we're really asking them to please restrain more of the oil, not cut it off completely," he said – a move that would nevertheless deal a crippling blow to Pyongyang's economy.
"That was the most effective tool the last time the North Koreans came to the table, cutting the oil off."
Usefulness of sanctions 'exhausted'?
Tillerson's call came after the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, issued a stark warning to the UN Security Council.
"The dictator of North Korea made a choice yesterday that brings the world closer to war, not farther from it," she said. "If war comes, make no mistake: The North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed."
But her call for nations to "cut off all ties with North Korea" was rejected by Moscow, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying Russia saw the proposal "negatively".
"We have repeatedly stated that the pressure of sanctions has been exhausted," Lavrov told reporters in Minsk.
Tuesday's launch ended a two-month lull in missile tests that had raised hopes for the opening of diplomatic talks.
Kim said the test of the Hwasong-15 weapons system had helped his country achieve the goal of becoming a full nuclear power, sparking global condemnation.
The North said the weapon could land anywhere in the continental United States, and France said Europe was also in striking distance.

'Situation will be handled'
The Security Council met Wednesday at the request of the United States, Japan and South Korea to consider next steps after three rounds of sanctions adopted in the past year failed to push North Korea to change course.
Trump – who has traded barbs with Kim for months – asked Xi to use "all available levers" to press the hermit state.
"This situation will be handled!" Trump tweeted.
But China's foreign ministry sidestepped questions about the US call for an oil embargo, with spokesman Geng Shuang telling reporters that Beijing upholds UN resolutions and backs the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Beijing has backed a slew of sanctions that include bans on imports of North Korean coal, iron ore and seafood. The UN also barred the hiring of North Korean guest workers and capped exports of refined petroleum products.
But China has refused to turn off its pipeline shipping crude to North Korea.
Beijing fears that taking tougher actions could cause the regime to collapse, triggering a refugee crisis across its border with the North and eliminating a strategic buffer separating China from the US military in South Korea.
China has proposed that the North stop missile and nuclear tests in exchange for a freeze of US military exercises – a suggestion Washington has repeatedly rejected.
There are also concerns in Seoul – which is within range of Pyongyang's artillery – that Trump might be considering military action against the North that could trigger a full-scale war.
Last week, Trump announced new US unilateral sanctions on Pyongyang and returned it to a US list of state sponsors of terror. He has said additional sanctions are planned. — AFP