US President Barack Obama has condemned North Korea for its latest nuclear test, promising to impose a new round of sanctions on Pyongyang.

On Friday, Obama censured the North Korean move as “a grave threat to regional security and to international peace and stability,” adding that he will push for new sanctions in retaliation to Pyongyang’s fifth and most powerful nuclear test. Obama made the remarks in a written statement which was released by the White House on Friday.

“We agreed to work with the UN Security Council, our other partners, and the international community to vigorously implement existing measures imposed in previous resolutions, and to take additional significant steps, including new sanctions,” Obama said in the statement. “To be clear, the United States does not, and never will, accept North Korea as a nuclear state,” Obama said.

Obama noted that he would work “to take additional significant steps, including new sanctions, to demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences to its unlawful and dangerous actions.”

Presstv