Russia rejects Trump's calls to cut ties with North Korea
The Trump administration is urging all countries to cut ties with North Korea after its latest missile test -- an intercontinental ballistic missile launch shown in new video released overnight.
Analysts say it's capable of striking anywhere in the United States, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the test "brings the world closer to war." She warned that North Korea would be "utterly destroyed" if it ever came to that.
The only two countries that have any real ties with North Korea are China and Russia, and on Thursday Russia rejected Mr. Trump's call to cut ties with the Kim Jong Un regime. Instead, Moscow wants the U.S. to try diplomacy, even though North Korea seems more intent on testing missiles than talking, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy.
As North Korea's most advanced missile launched into the night sky, a beaming Kim Jong Un was clearly pleased with his regime's accomplishment. The Hwasong-15 rocket is the third ICBM launched by North Korea in the past six months.
At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Haley issued a stark warning about what she calls North Korea's "continued acts of aggression."
"If war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed," Haley said.
The Trump administration is calling on China, North Korea's main trading partner, to entirely cut off the regime's oil supply.
President Trump made fun of Kim in a speech outside St. Louis on tax reform, calling him a "sick puppy."
But experts who have studied photos of the regime's new weapon are taking it very seriously.
"I think it's clear from the pictures that it's a more capable rocket than, certainly than the last one we saw," said David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
He says he's surprised by how fast North Korea is advancing its missile program.
"I'm less skeptical than I might have been that they can deliver a warhead to, certainly the West Coast, and maybe larger parts of the United States, so I think the threat that they have been talking about is a real threat at this point."
After this latest missile launch, North Korea declared that it has completed its nuclear weapons program. State media reports that Kim said it was such an important milestone, it should be recorded in the history of the country.