National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said Friday that a "military option" is on the table to respond to North Korea's ongoing provocations.
McMaster appeared alongside U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley at the daily White House press briefing, where the two addressed the ongoing situation in North Korea. On Thursday, the regime of dictator Kim Jong-Un tested yet another missile, again launching the missile in a trajectory that passed over U.S. ally Japan.
McMaster addressed the most recent round of sanctions against North Korea, which the U.N. voted on Monday in response to the regime's nuclear provocations.
"These sanctions are just now taking effect," McMaster said. "What's really important, is rigorous enforcement of those sanctions, so that we can really let the economic actions and diplomacy progress as best we can."
McMaster emphasized the United States was "out of time" in regards to North Korea, and that a "military option" exists and could be used if necessary.
"But I think we ought to make clear, what's different about this approach is that we're out of time," he said. "As Ambassador Haley said before, we've been kicking the can down the road, and we're out of road," he said.
"And so, for those who have said and been commenting about the lack of a military option, there is a military option," he said.
McMaster emphasized, however, that the United States would prefer not to act militarily, and called for international cooperation to counteract the nuclear Kim regime.
"Now, it's not what we would prefer to do. So what we have to do is call on all nations – call on everyone to do everything we can to address this global problem short of war," he said.