Colin Powell Says U.S. Should Destroy North Korean Regime If It Uses Nuclear Weapons

"I think that North Koreans should be warned - as I have warned them when I was in government and warn them now as a private citizen - that any use of such (nuclear) weapons, or if we think that those weapons are about to be used, then the North Koreans will be held to account. And we have a capacity to destroy that regime. And I think that's what I would recommend we do if they ever use such a weapon," Powell said, speaking at a Sberbank investment forum in Moscow"I just hope that sooner or later they will realize there's a better world for the people living in North Korea. And I hope that the Chinese will do everything they can to move the North Koreans to that conclusion. So take it (North Korean threats) seriously, but he (Kim Jong-un) would be committing suicide if he ever used such a weapon, his regime would be committing suicide," Powell added.

North Korea stepped up its defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions in December when it launched a rocket that it said put a scientific satellite in orbit. Critics said the launch was aimed at nurturing the kind of technology needed to deliver a nuclear warhead mounted on a long-range missile.

That was followed in February by its third test of a nuclear weapon. That triggered new U.N. sanctions in March, sharply toughening existing measures, which in turn led to a dramatic intensification of North Korean threats of nuclear strikes againstSouth Korea and the United States.

North Korea has a long record of making threats to secure concessions from theUnited States and South Korea, only to repeat the process later. Both the United States and the South said this week that the cycle must cease.