Following a ballistic missile test that was possibly Pyongyang’s “most advanced yet,” U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner joined two prominent senators in penning a letter to the United Nations Security Council urging for more sanctions to be placed on North Korea.

The epic that is North Korea’s quest for a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching the United States mainland continued Sunday when it conducted its 10th ballistic missile test of the year, CNN reports. Pyongyang claimed the missile traveled 489 miles and is now capable of carrying nuclear warheads, though experts questioned that assessment.

After the test, President Donald Trump labeled North Korea “a flagrant menace for far too long,” in a statement over the weekend. The president reaffirmed the United States’ “ironclad commitment to stand with our allies in the face of the serious threat posed by North Korea.”

“Let this latest provocation serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against North Korea,” the president said.

Gardner’s letter to the U.N., co-written with U.S. Senators Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked the Security Council take action and increase pressure through additional sanctions. The senators called for new sanctions restricting North Korea’s access to currency, imports of minerals and oil supply and addressing the country’s malicious cyber behavior.

“The DPRK has flagrantly defied the international community by illicitly developing its nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” the senators wrote. “We urge the UNSC to take immediate and additional actions to increase the pressure on the DPRK and bring Pyongyang into full compliance with its international obligations.”

In a combined statement May 15, the 15-member UNSC strongly condemned North Korea’s “highly destabilizing behavior and flagrant and provocative defiance of the Security Council by conducting these ballistic missile launches.”

“The members of the Security Council emphasized the vital importance of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea immediately showing sincere commitment to denuclearization through concrete action and stressed the importance of working to reduce tensions in the Korean Peninsula and beyond,” the Council said.

The United Nations first imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2006, enforcing further sanctions following subsequent missile tests. Current U.S. sanctions on North Korea include a ban on trade.

Experts have labeled Pyongyang’s weekend test the most successful so far, though they questioned North Korea’s claimed distance.

John Schilling, an aerospace engineer who authors a blog called 38 North published by the U.S. Korea Institute at John Hopkins University, said the missile might be capable of reaching Guam, a U.S. Territory housing a military installation.

“North Korea’s latest successful missile test represents a level of performance never before seen from a North Korean missile,” he said. “The missile would have flown a distance of some 4,500 kilometers if launched on a maximum trajectory. It appears to have not only demonstrated an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that might enable them to reliably strike the U.S. base at Guam, but more importantly, may represent a substantial advance to developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).”

As United States-Pyongyang relations have become increasingly strained, Gardner has emerged as a vocal authority on foreign policy, especially on North Korea.

The Colorado Republican’s rise to prominence as a foreign policy wonk on North Korea didn’t go unnoticed by Pyongyang, fielding a barrage of insults recently from the Kim Jong Un regime including “a man mixed in with human dirt … who has lost basic judgment and body hair.”

Signed into law last year, Gardner has pushed the White House to use his North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act as a tool to “economically cripple the North Korean regime.”

“The most recent missile test by North Korea appears to be one of its most advanced yet, and proves that a policy of maximum pressure that fully enforces all sanctions against the regime is the only way to bring Kim Jong Un to his senses,” said Gardner. “It is clear that North Korea is learning from those tests and improving their capabilities, with the ultimate goal of reaching the U.S. homeland.”

A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chair of the East Asia, Pacific and International Cybersecurity subcommittee, Gardner said it’s time for a more concerted effort on Pyongyang and urged President Donald Trump to also target China with sanctions, for enabling North Korea.

“I do not believe we are putting requisite pressure against China that is necessary to stop Pyongyang, and I’ll continue to urge the administration to do so,” he said.

China is North Korea’s biggest international ally and holds a large stake in its economy. Experts have long pointed to China as a key to a denuclearized North Korea.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said May 16 that the United States wouldn’t talk with Pyongyang until missile tests stopped and warned that the White House would target countries with sanctions that supported North Korea, according to Reuters.

– adam@coloradostatesman.com