NKorea hails nuclear test as UN weighs response

SKOREA; North Korea held a mass rally to celebrate its nuclear test and reportedly restarted a plutonium-producing plant, as world powers pondered how to punish the communist state for its defiance.

Unfazed by international anger at its second bomb test, Pyongyang has also test-fired six short-range missiles and reportedly intensified military exercises in regions close to South Korea.

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously condemned the North but diplomats said Tuesday that members need some time to agree on a new resolution sanctioning it.

The US envoy to the world body, Susan Rice, said members want "a strong resolution with teeth."

Sanctions "could take very different forms" and might include "economic levers," she told CNN without elaborating.

It was unclear how far permanent Council members China and Russia would go. Both strongly criticised Monday's test but last month blocked a new resolution to punish the North for its April 5 rocket launch. Seoul, AFP