Anchor: Members of the UN Security Council strongly condemned North Korea at an emergency meeting after the North launched its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile to date. But UN ambassadors differed on how to handle the situation.
Alannah Hill wraps up the session.
 
Report: 

[Sound bite: UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman]
"Mr President, this is the 13th time the council has met to discuss the DPRK in 2017.

Speaking at the session in New York on Wednesday, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said the Security Council "needs to do all it can" to prevent an escalation.

[Sound bite: UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman]
"This dynamic must be reversed. The solution can only be political. Given the grave risks associated with any military confrontation, in exercise of its primary responsibilities the Security Council needs to do all it can to prevent an escalation."

[Sound bite: U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley]
“If war does come it will be because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday. And if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed." 

U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said the missile launch brings the U.S. close to a war that it doesn’t seek.

[Sound bite: U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley] 
"President Trump called Chinese President Xi this morning and told him that we have come to the point that China must cut off the oil from North Korea. That would be a pivotal step in the world's effort to stop this international pariah."
 
Both the Japanese and British representatives said the North’s latest launch shows that Pyongyang is not interested in dialogue.  
 
[Sound bite: Permanent Representative of Japan to the UN Koro Bessho (English)]
"This most recent provocation made it ever more evident that North Korea is nowhere near ready to give up its nuclear programs nor is it interested in coming back to a meaningful dialogue.
 
[Sound bite: Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the UN Matthew Rycroft] 
“The latest violation demonstrates once more North Korea's disregard for our collective security and the international obligation to all of us as law-abiding states take upon ourselves."
 
While voicing opposition to the missile launch, China’s deputy UN ambassador, Wu Haitao, said Beijing will implement sanctions but urged more restraint. 
 
[Sound bite: Chinese Deputy UN Ambassador Wu Haitao (Mandarin)]
"Political means while emphasizing that people's livelihood and humanitarian assistance efforts in the DPRK should not be negatively impacted. In view of the current grave situation on the Korean peninsula, the top priority is for all the parties concerned to keep restraint implemented comprehensively and strictly relevant Security Council resolutions and strive for an early resumption of dialogue and negotiations."

Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, urged South Korea and the U.S. to cancel their joint military exercises scheduled for December.

[Sound bite: Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia (Russian)]
"A comprehensive solution to the problems of the Korean Peninsula is possible only in the framework of a comprehensive military and political detente in eastern and northern Asia, easing the military confrontation and establishing trust among the countries of the region. This is precisely the approach that was proposed by Russia in China in their joint statement on the Fourth of July..."
 
In September when the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2375, the U.S. wanted to issue an all-out oil embargo on North Korea but failed to do so due to China and Russia's opposition. The U.S. and China have generally spent weeks deciding on the intensity of sanctions following North Korean provocations. 
Alannah Hill, KBS World Radio News. 

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