Haley Says Diplomatic Solutions for North Korea Exhausted

Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday with the United States exhausting diplomatic means against North Korea, "military options" are an alternative.

Haley, speaking on CNN's State of the Union, said, "We have pretty much exhausted all the things that we could do at the Security Council at this point." 

Haley told CNN's Dane Bash she would be "perfectly happy" turning things over to U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

"We wanted to be responsible and go through all diplomatic means to get their attention first," Haley said. "If that doesn't work, General [Jim] Mattis will take care of it."

Last Monday, the U.N. Security Council adopted a new round of sanctions on North Korea after the nation's sixth and largest nuclear weapons test. On Thursday, North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan in the North Pacific and reached a height of 478 miles and distance of about 2,300 miles.

On Friday, Haley told reporters at the White House that North Korea has been "strangled" by sanctions and said military options remain squarely on the table if sanctions are not effective.

On Sunday, she reiterated those views.

"If North Korea keeps on with this reckless behavior, if the United States has to defend itself or defend its allies in any way, North Korea will be destroyed," Haley said. "And we all know that, and none of us want that."