UN vows new measures targeting North Korea

The U.N. Security Council is looking at new measures against North Korea after the isolated nation launched a nuclear test in the face of global opposition.

The 15-member council that includes the U.S., Russia, France and North Korean ally China “strongly condemned” the test on Wednesday, saying “a clear threat to international peace and security continues to exist.”

{mosads}The council “will begin to work immediately” to take “further significant measures” against North Korea, it said in a statement after an emergency meeting to discuss Pyongyang’s claim it tested a hydrogen bomb.

The UN vow comes as the White House on Wednesday cast doubt that North Korea had detonated a hydrogen bomb.  The White House said that an initial analysis by U.S. officials was “not consistent with the North Korean claims of a successful hydrogen bomb test.”

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called North Korea’s claimed test “deeply troubling,” saying it violated “numerous Security Council resolutions” and is a “grave contravention” of nuclear testing norms.

Secretary of State John Kerry echoed those remarks, saying North Korea’s nuclear test put global peace at risk and “blatantly violates multiple U.S. Security Council resolutions.”

Kerry vowed the U.S. wouldn’t allow North Korea to be a nuclear-armed state and called on Pyongyang to “end these provocations” and start “living up to its international obligations and commitments.”

“We will continue to work closely with our partners on the U.N. Security Council and in the Six-Party Talks to take appropriate action,” Kerry said.

North Korea has tested nuclear devices three other times since 2006, prompting international sanctions. Its latest effort comes on the heels of the international deal over Iran’s nuclear program.

The head of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday that a confirmed North Korean nuclear test would be “deeply regrettable” and floated resuming international inspections of the country.