UN Security Council Urges For More Robust Action Against North Korea



ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

People in China and South Korea felt a tremor over the weekend. It came from an underground explosion in North Korea. The North said it successfully detonated an advanced hydrogen bomb. There’s no independent confirmation, but it appears the device tested was the country’s most powerful yet. This has made a global crisis more intense.

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NIKKI HALEY: Enough is enough.

SHAPIRO: The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting this morning in New York. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley had a warning for North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un.

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HALEY: His abusive use of missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. War is never something the United States wants. We don’t want it now. But our country’s patience is not unlimited. We will defend our allies and our territory.

SHAPIRO: Delegates from other countries said the focus needs to be on diplomatic, not military, responses. They called for stronger sanctions against North Korea. Koro Bessho is Japan’s ambassador to the U.N.

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KORO BESSHO: Japan stresses the need for the council to adopt swiftly a new resolution with further robust sanction measures.

SHAPIRO: Just last week, North Korea fired a missile over Japan. South Korea is also very familiar with this threat.

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CHO TAE-YUL: It is with a deep sense of disappointment, frustration and even anger that I address this council today.

SHAPIRO: At the U.N. Security Council meeting, South Korea’s ambassador, Cho Tae-yul, urged North Korea to take the path of denuclearization.

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CHO: Whether to stick to its current path of self-destruction or redirect itself towards the path of survival is entirely the choice of North Korea.

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