The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Monday conducted an emergency meeting following North Korea's detonation of a hydrogen bomb the day before.
Monday's meeting was requested by the U.S., Great Britain, France, Japan and South Korea after North Korea performed its sixth nuclear test blast since 2006.
The Council will discuss next steps for dealing with North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons, including additional condemnation and economic sanctions.
The group's huddle comes six days after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan, a move which raised global concern about advancements in Pyongyang's weapons programs.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis responded to North Korea's latest nuclear test, saying threats to the United States and its allies "will be met with a massive military response."
Mattis spoke from the White House on Sunday following a meeting with President Donald Trump and his national security advisers.
He added that the U.S. is "not looking to the total annihilation" of North Korea.
President Donald Trump is set to meet with his national security team later on Sunday, following North Korea's latest nuclear test.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Newsweek the situation is being monitored closely. In addition, Trump tweeted saying that he would be meeting with military leaders to discuss the situation.
I will be meeting General Kelly, General Mattis and other military leaders at the White House to discuss North Korea. Thank you.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017
When reports asked if he would attack North Korea, Trump said, "We'll see."
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday he's putting together new sanctions aimed at cutting off trade with North Korea, following the country's most powerful nuclear test to date.
Mnuchin said North Korea's behavior is "completely unacceptable."
"We’ve already started with sanctions against North Korea, but I am going to draft a sanctions package to send to the president for his strong consideration that anybody that wants to do trade or business with them would be prevented from doing trade or business with us," he told "Fox News Sunday."
.@stevenmnuchin1 on cutting #NoKo off: There is a lot we can do to cut them off economically, more than we've done already.
— FoxNewsSunday (@FoxNewsSunday) September 3, 2017
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) echoed that sentiment, telling ABC's "This Week" that the U.S. should "use economic leverage to go against not only North Korea but every financial institution, every company that does business with North Korea." Cruz also called for enhancing enhancing missile defense so the U.S. could destroy anything North Korea fires toward the mainland.
President Donald Trump condemned North Korea's latest nuclear test in a series of tweets Sunday morning, calling it "a rouge nation."
"North Korea has conducted a major nuclear test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States," Trump tweeted.
North Korea has conducted a major Nuclear Test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017
..North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017
South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2017
North Korea announced Sunday that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb for its intercontinental ballistic missile. The latest test was the country's sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date.
Although the exact strength of blast it created is still unknown, South Korea's weather agency said the artificial earthquake it caused was much stronger than tremors generated by its previous tests. The test, which was carried out at 12:29 p.m. local time, created a 6.3 magnitude artificial earthquake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The strongest quake generated by previous tests was a magnitude 5.3.
The USGS said a second, 4.1 magnitude quake happened shortly after the first. "This significantly smaller event is likely a secondary feature (possibly a structural collapse) associated with the larger event," a statement on USGS's website noted.
UPDATE: USGS estimate now up to M6.3. If it holds, would represent a *significantly* greater yield than previous 5 #NorthKorea tests. pic.twitter.com/5SUKL77fQb
— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) September 3, 2017
Sunday's test builds on North Korea's recent intercontinental ballistic missile test launches. Pyongyang has said missile development is part of its effort to build a nuclear deterrent capable of targeting the U.S. mainland or the territory of Guam.
Other world powers including China, South Korea, Russia, Britain, Italy and France have condemned the test.
In a written statement, French President Emmanuel Macron called "on the members of the United Nations Security Council to quickly react to this new violation by North Korea of international law."
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in also called for sanctions and said he will be in talks with Washington to deploy the "strongest strategic assets" the U.S. has to completely isolate Pyongyang. The U.S. currently has 28,500 American troops deployed in South Korea as a deterrence against North Korea.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
