US Won't Rule Out North Korea Attack

The US ambassador to the United Nations is not ruling out an American strike on North Korea if Pyongyang tests another nuclear device.

Nikki Haley praised China's involvement in trying to pressure North Korea to cease missile testing.

She also criticised the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, as unstable and paranoid.

Ms Haley told NBC's Today Show:

"We are not going to do something unless he gives us reason to do something."

Such provocations would include attacking a US military base or using an intercontinental ballistic missile.

When asked what would happen if North Korea tests another missile or nuclear device, Ms Haley told NBC: "I think then the president steps in and decides what's going to happen."

The Trump administration has been working to rally support for its efforts to pressure Pyongyang into abandoning its nuclear ambitions and ceasing all aggression.

North Korea has been aggressively pursuing a decades-long goal of putting a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), capable of reaching the US mainland.

Two nuclear tests were conducted last year alone, which would have improved its knowledge on making nuclear weapons small enough to fit on long-range missiles.

South Korean officials say there is a chance the country will conduct its sixth nuclear test or its maiden test launch of an ICBM some time close to the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday.