North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un should take Washington's threats of possible military action seriously because the world will not accept the rogue state becoming a full nuclear power, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has warned.
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Mr Pyne said the US, Australia and their allies needed to give the latest round of United Nations sanctions time to bite. Meanwhile the world had to remain united in its resistance to Pyongyang's nuclear program.
"It would be quite unwise for any of the nations that are threatened by North Korea to not stick together and be united in that view. A nuclear-armed North Korea with the capability to deliver that payload to Australia is not acceptable in our region and we will not be getting used to it," Mr Pyne said in Canberra on Monday.
Asked whether the US would really take military action or was merely engaging in shows of brinkmanship, Mr Pyne said "the United States doesn't make those statements lightly".
"They are well-considered, they are calm," he said. "The United States and its allies have been trying every single option. As they've said, before, all options are on the table. I take them seriously and Kim Jong-un should take them seriously."
Mr Pyne was speaking after the US mounted its latest round of rhetorical sorties at the Kim regime, led by United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who said the US had "pretty much exhausted" what it could do through the UN Security Council by way of sanctions on the North.
She said if the US's diplomatic efforts didn't work, "General Mattis will take care of it" - referring to the Secretary of Defence.
Mr Pyne, giving a full-throated endorsement of the US position, said that "for Australia and other countries in our region, like Japan, South Korea ??? it is critically important that the United States remains the ultimate power in the Asia-Pacific region and that includes in controlling the activities of North Korea".
US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said at the weekend the US now had to "move with a great deal of urgency: on sanctions, on diplomacy and on preparing, if necessary, a military option".
He said the rogue regime's continued nuclear and missile testing - most recently in the firing of a Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile over Japan on Friday - meant "we're out of time".
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is in New York for a meeting of the UN General Assembly at which North Korea is set to dominate discussions.
Observers will be watching closely any remarks by US President Donald Trump. But Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin - both of whom are crucial to resolving the North Korea crisis - will not attend the week-long talks.
