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The U.S. has warned that it is prepared to "utterly destroy" North Korea in the event of war should the country's nuclear and missile aggressions amount to that.

This was disclosed by the United States' ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in the wake of North Korea's latest missile test which is perhaps one of their most successful ever.

"If war comes make no mistake: the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed," Nikki Haley said during a UN Security Council meeting that followed North Korea's latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, an action Ms Haley warned "brings us closer to war".

"We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it. If war does come, it will be because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday," Ms Haley said.

"No one can doubt that this threat is growing," Ms Haley said of a missile that soared higher than previous tests before crashing into the sea near Japan and prompted North Korea to boast it was now capable of striking the mainland United States.

"Yesterday the North Korean regime made a choice. It chose to feed its nuclear aggression" and to "thumb its nose" at the world, she said.

Ms Halley lauded the UN penalties as the "most impactful sanctions that any country has experienced in a generation," but she warned that North Korea was thwarting new restrictions with the aid of other nations. She noted reports that the North Korean regime continued to smuggle coal into other Asian countries, flouting a ban on exports, and said the country was still "illegally obtaining refined petroleum".

"There are countries that are continuing to fund the North Korean nuclear program," Ms Haley warned.