The United States said Tuesday it will push for additional sanctions on North Korea if it conducts a new nuclear test explosion.
U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials have said North Korea could soon conduct its first nuclear test in nearly five years.
On Thursday, China and Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution sponsored by the United States that would have imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea for a spate of launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles that can be used to deliver nuclear warheads. The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-2 and marked a first serious division among the five veto-wielding permanent members over a North Korea sanctions resolution.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was asked Tuesday whether the U.S. would seek new sanctions if the North conducted another nuclear test. “We absolutely will,” she said.