Washington Says North Korea Will 'Pay a Price'

The United States says it is working with the international community to make sure that North Korea "pays a price" if it does not reverse course.

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been in touch with her counterparts from countries including Russia and China to discuss a unified response to what Pyongyang claims was its second successful underground nuclear test.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the United Nations Security Council must come up with a strong resolution that, in his words, "actually imposes some consequences" on North Korea.  

Kelly said the Security Council is unified in believing there should be a new resolution.  He declined to provide details of possible new sanctions.

Kelly said the door for North Korea to return to nuclear disarmament talks remains open.  But he said U.S. patience is "not infinite."

The spokesman said North Korea notified the United States on Sunday of its intention to conduct a nuclear test.  He said it will take a few days for the United States to confirm that a nuclear device caused the seismic tremors that were widely observed early Monday.

North Korea responded to the wave of international condemnation of Monday's nuclear test by accusing the United States of hostility.  A North Korean diplomat in Geneva on Tuesday said Monday's nuclear test was a "self-defense measure."

U.S. officials and independent experts say Monday's apparent nuclear test was probably larger than North Korea's one kiloton test in 2006.  But experts say it does not appear to represent a major technical advance.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency says North Korea has also fired short-range ballistic missiles.  Yonhap says Pyongyang launched three missiles shortly after Monday's nuclear test, and two more on Tuesday.

An emergency session of the 15-member United Nations Security Council, including the United States, Russia and China, on Monday unanimously condemned the nuclear test.  

The U.N. Security Council says it is preparing a strong response to Pyongyang, but member states have declined to discuss details.

France, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, has called for tough new sanctions against North Korea.  

Fellow veto-wielding Council members Russia and China have condemned the nuclear test, but their support for new sanctions remains unclear.

China, a neighbor and traditional ally of the communist North Korean state, on Tuesday called on all "relevant parties" to respond in a "coolheaded and appropriate" way.  

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who formerly served as South Korea's foreign minister, also called on North Korea to return to nuclear talks.