The US president says all options remain on the table over Pyongyang while EU leaders call for tough new sanctions
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Donald Trump was uncharacteristically quiet about dealing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions when leaving church on Sunday.
When asked by reporters whether he would take military action, he replied “we’ll see.”
Despite his non-committal response hours earlier he took to Twitter to condemn their latest test. He’s also threatened to stop trade with any country doing business with Pyongyang.
The United States is considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May called on the UN to impose new sanctions; sentiments shared by her foreign minister who spelt out the difficulty of taking military action.
“It’s certainly our view that none of the military options are good. As you know, you’ve been there, the distance between North Korea and Seoul is very, very small, they could basically vaporise large parts of the South Korean population, even with conventional weapons. So that’s not really very easy to threaten and to deliver,” said UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson.
Statement on the latest reckless and unacceptable action by North Korea: https://t.co/S6B8RCnvsi
— Theresa May (@theresa_may) September 3, 2017
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron have discussed the issue by phone, with Berlin describing North Korea’s test as a “provocation that’s reached a new dimension.”
Both leaders say they plan to tighten European Union sanctions.