The measures will be under Article 41 of the U.N. Charter, which specifies non-military actions including sanctions, it said.
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Beijing said Friday it “firmly opposes” the test, but it has limited room to maneuver.
“The members of the Security Council strongly condemned this test, which is a clear violation and in flagrant disregard” of past council resolutions banning nuclear tests or the use of ballistic missile technology by the country, the statement said.
The powerful 15-member council said in a press statement issued after an emergency closed-door meeting that the test poses a clear threat to worldwide peace and security.
Even China, which is North Korea’s main ally, slammed the nuclear tests.
While Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump promised to upgrade the USA missile defense system, Hillary Clinton told reporters she wants to see more sanctions placed on communist dictatorship and was open to negotiations with North Korea similar to those the US went forth with Iran.
The latest nuclear test by North Korea is estimated to produced a blast equivalent to 10 kilotons – twice the power of the country’s last test, according to Korea’s Meteorological Administration.
The announcement from the Kim Jong-un government marked the second time this year the North has conducted a nuclear test and raised fears the country is a step closer to developing a nuclear-armed missile that could strike North America.
North Korea claimed it had mastered the ability to mount a warhead on a ballistic missile.
Obama said he had called the leaders of South Korea and Japan to confer over the crisis, with Park and Japanese leader Shinzo Abe also agreeing to co-operate closely with each other.
The White House stopped short of calling it a nuclear test, referring to “reported seismic activity” near a known North Korean nuclear test site.
France’s UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said: “North Korea will have to bear the consequences of its act and provocation”.
Pyongyang’s state media said the nuclear test had realized the country’s goal of being able to fit a miniaturized warhead on a rocket.
The test, North Korea’s fifth and the fourth on Obama’s watch, threatens to raise security tensions in Asia just as the president returns from summit meetings in China and Laos, the report said.
North Korea said no radioactive material had leaked.
State TV said the test elevated the country’s nuclear arsenal and is part of its response to global sanctions following its earlier nuclear test and long-range rocket launch in January and February.
“If there is a North Korean crisis in the weeks ahead, Donald Trump will not hesitate to blame it on Obama and his former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton”.
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United Nations approved sanctions against North Korea included an export ban of the country’s natural resources such as silver, coal, iron, gold and titanium.
