NEW YORK -- A senior official from the office of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton confirms that the U.S. State Department will begin work Monday on a draft Security Council resolution to impose new sanctions on North Korea.
Those sanctions, a reaction to an atomic test carried out by Pyongyang late Sunday night (U.S. EDT) will include additional economic and political sanctions.
Under moves being considered by Washington, new restrictions on travel by senior North Korean officials as well as a U.S. Naval blockade of Pyongyang's ports are likely to be the next steps.
North Korea was officially warned by the Security Council on Friday not to conduct a nuclear weapons test.
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Ironically, Japan - one of North Korea's strongest critics - chairs the Council's rotating presidency for the month of October.
Another potential problem facing the White House say U.N. sources is the belief that Iranian scientists may have been present at the North Korean nuclear test.
In recent weeks, published reports have claimed that North Korea and Iran may have been "exchanging" nuclear technology.
Reached Sunday evening, North Korea's U.N. mission in New York City refused any comment.
The North Korean moves come hours before the Council is scheduled to convene to officially select Ban Ki-Moon, South Korea's foreign minister, as the U.N.'s new secretary-general, replacing the retiring Kofi Annan.
Whether the North Korean move will impact on the Ban selection is not known at this time.