UN Security Council to convene Monday on North Korea nuclear test
The United Nations Security Council hold a meeting on the situation with North Korea at United Nations headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 29 August 2017. (EPA Photo)


The U.N. Security Council has scheduled an emergency meeting after North Korea conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date.

The U.S., Japan, France, Britain and South Korea requested Monday's meeting after North Korea detonated what it called a hydrogen bomb.

It will be the Security Council's second urgent session in under a week on the North's weapons tests, which have continued in the face of a series of sanctions.

After North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan, the council Tuesday strongly condemned the test and reiterated demands that Pyongyang halt its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.

Monday could bring additional condemnation and discussion of other potential steps.

Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Sunday's nuclear test. His spokesman calls it "profoundly destabilizing for regional security."