US: If war comes, North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed

Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the United Nations, has said North Korea’s ruling regime would be “utterly destroyed” if a war breaks out.

Haley said North Korea’s recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch only “brings us closer to war”.

Speaking during a UN security council meeting on Wednesday, she said: “If war comes make no mistake: the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed.

“We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it. If war does come, it will be because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday.

Haley called on the international community to isolate the North Korean regime by cutting off ties and diplomatic relations.

“No one can doubt that this threat is growing. Yesterday the North Korean regime made a choice. It chose to feed its nuclear aggression and to thumb its nose at the world,” she said.