South Korea and Japan agreed Monday to seek U.N.-level punishment against North Korea's second nuclear test, officials said.
The agreement came at a meeting between Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart Hirofumi Nakasone held in Hanoi, Vietnam, on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).
The ministers said they "call for the U.N. Security Council to convene an emergency meeting on the issue as early as possible," a senior South Korean official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.
Yu plans to have more discussions with foreign ministers from other nations, including China and Russia, which are also attending the ASEM forum, he added.
North Korea announced earlier in the day that it successfully conducted an underground nuclear test. Its previous test was conducted in 2006.