North Korea 'Begging For War' Says US, Calling For Strongest Possible Sanctions

America's top diplomat has warned that North Korea is "begging for war" and urged the UN security council to impose the toughest sanctions possible on the isolated dictatorship, The Guardian reported. 

The blunt statement by Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, came as Donald Trump spoke with South Korean president Moon Jae-in and agreed that the North's latest nuclear test was an "unprecedented" provocation.

North Korea carried out its sixth and by far most powerful nuclear test on Sunday. The underground blast triggered a magnitude 6.3 tremor and was more powerful than the bombs dropped by the US on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the second world war.

"Enough is enough," said Haley, noting that an approach of incremental sanctions since 2006 had not worked. "The time for half measures in the security council is over. The time has come to exhaust all of our diplomatic means before it's too late."

Nuclear powers understand their responsibilities, she added, and Kim Jong-un has shown no such understanding. "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."