UN Security Council condemns NK, agrees to scale up sanctions

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) strongly condemned North Korea's nuclear test and agreed to start working immediately on drawing up new punitive measures at an emergency session, Wednesday (New York Time).

The meeting followed an announcement from Pyongyang earlier in the day in which the regime there claimed that it had successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test.

"The members of the Security Council strongly condemned this test," the 15-member council said in a press statement.

"The test is a clear violation of Security Council resolutions and a clear threat to international peace and security."

The UNSC referred to previous warnings against Pyongyang and its determination to take further significant measures if the isolated state conducts further nuclear tests.

"In line with this commitment and the gravity of this violation, the members of the Security Council will begin to work immediately on such measures in a new Security Council resolution," it said.

Additional sanctions are expected to impose a wider range of restrictions than existing sanctions.

Earlier, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon referred to the test as "deeply troubling" and a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions which is "profoundly destabilizing for regional security."

This is North Korea's fourth nuclear test following those conducted in 2006, 2009 and 2013.