A day after North Korea test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, the United States has urged “all nations” to sever diplomatic and trade relations with Pyongyang, AFP reported. United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned Pyongyang that the Korean leadership would be totally destroyed if a war were to break out, Reuters reported.

“We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it,” Haley said. She was speaking at an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting. “If war does come, it will be because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday...And if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed.”

The missile launched on Tuesday is probably North Korea’s longest-range weapon yet. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had “declared with pride that now we have finally realised the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force”. The intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-15 type weaponry system is a rocket tipped with super-large heavy warhead, which is “capable of striking the whole mainland of the US,” local media said.

Haley said that the United States has urged China to cut off oil supply to North Korea, which Beijing has so far refrained from doing as it is the only major trading partner. The latest missile launch came just days after the United States had imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea and re-designated the country as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Trump also referred to Kim Jong Un as “Little Rocket Man” and a “sick puppy” during a speech on Tuesday. He has often traded insults with the North Korean leader.

Trump has warned North Korea a number of times against boosting its nuclear weapons programme this year. In July, Pyongyang launched two long-range missiles that could potentially reach the US mainland. In September, it had conducted its sixth and most powerful atomic bomb test till then.