The United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to impose new sanctions on communist North Korea.
The move follows a nuclear test carried by the North Koreans last month, in defiance of previous UN resolutions.
The new sanctions are tougher than those that were already in place against the North Koreans.
They include provisions for the inspection of North Korean ships, a tighter ban on arms exports, and financial measures.
On Thursday, the US envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, said Washington was addressing a "growing threat" from Pyongyang, but still hoped for a diplomatic solution.
Mr Bosworth told a Senate hearing in Washington that the Obama administration's strong preference was to engage in "serious, effective diplomacy".
The draft UN resolution agreed this week calls on member states to inspect North Korean ships suspected of carrying equipment related to weapons of mass destruction.
It also reasserts a UN ban on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile tests and calls on Pyongyang to go back on its decision to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In recent weeks, North Korea has fired a long-range and several short-range missiles, and tested a nuclear device in defiance of the UN Security Council.
North Korea has warned that it will use nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" if provoked.
BBC
The move follows a nuclear test carried by the North Koreans last month, in defiance of previous UN resolutions.
The new sanctions are tougher than those that were already in place against the North Koreans.
They include provisions for the inspection of North Korean ships, a tighter ban on arms exports, and financial measures.
On Thursday, the US envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, said Washington was addressing a "growing threat" from Pyongyang, but still hoped for a diplomatic solution.
Mr Bosworth told a Senate hearing in Washington that the Obama administration's strong preference was to engage in "serious, effective diplomacy".
The draft UN resolution agreed this week calls on member states to inspect North Korean ships suspected of carrying equipment related to weapons of mass destruction.
It also reasserts a UN ban on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile tests and calls on Pyongyang to go back on its decision to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In recent weeks, North Korea has fired a long-range and several short-range missiles, and tested a nuclear device in defiance of the UN Security Council.
North Korea has warned that it will use nuclear weapons in a "merciless offensive" if provoked.
BBC
