The markets’ relief over North Korea is premature

KCNA | Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reacts during a celebration for nuclear scientists and engineers who contributed to a hydrogen bomb test, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on September 10, 2017.

As U.S. stocks surged Monday, CNBC’s Jim Cramer says the markets may have underplayed the risks from North Korea.

Equities were sharply higher Monday in part on investors’ fears about North Korea easing. The reclusive nation’s dictator, Kim Jong Un, chose to hold a party over the weekend, instead of opting for another missile launch.

“I think that North Korea … Ambassador (Nikki) Haley said it. They seem to want a war. I mean I have not seen this behavior from any country in the world,” Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street.”

“I think in some ways, people think the Chinese got to them,” Cramer added. “I happen to think the Chinese are not our friend there.”

The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Monday on a watered-down U.S.-drafted resolution to impose new sanctions on North Korea over its latest nuclear test, diplomats said, but it was unclear whether China and Russia would support it.

Cramer also spoke about Hurricane Irma, which was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm on Monday. The storm last was heading out of Florida after cutting power for millions and ripping roofs off homes.

Cramer said Irma was not “terrible enough” to knock down stocks. “It was really bad but not horrible,” he said.

— Reuters contributed to this report.