"With each additional missile test by North Korea and weak response by the international community, we are moving further down the road of potential military conflict that would have catastrophic consequences. We need to use every diplomatic and economic tool we have now to prevent nuclear war," Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) said in a statement.

"I call on the global community to impose a complete economic embargo against this heinous regime in Pyongyang. Every nation of conscience should cut off all finance and trade with Pyongyang, with a few limited humanitarian exceptions, until such time that Pyongyang is willing to meet its international commitments to peacefully denuclearize," he said.

The UN Security Council should immediately endorse such an embargo in a new resolution, he said.

Gardner also said he is drafting bipartisan legislation banning any entity that does business with North Korea or its enablers from using the US financial system. He welcomed the sanctions the US imposed on a Chinese bank and others last week, and called for more such measures.

"Time for words is over. China can inflict the diplomatic pressure and serious economic damage to North Korea that could move Pyongyang toward peaceful denuclearization, and Beijing should do so now," the senator said.

"If China fails to act, as it has to date, its relationship with the United States cannot remain the same," he said. "Beijing now has a real decision to make: allow the dangerous pattern of escalation to continue or step up and help deter a potential nuclear war." (Yonhap)