North Korea's missile program is progressing faster than expected, South Korea's defence minister has said.
The claim comes after the UN Security Council condemned the weekend launch of a new long-range missile and demanded North Korea halt weapons tests.
Han Min-koo told South Korea's parliament that Sunday's test had been detected by the controversial US THAAD anti-missile system, which was deployed in South Korea last month, infuriating China.
North Korea has defied all calls to rein in its nuclear and missile programs, even from China, its lone major ally, calling them legitimate self-defense.
It has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the US mainland, and experts say Sunday's test was another step toward that aim.
US President Donald Trump's administration has called for an immediate halt to North Korea's missile and nuclear tests, and U. Disarmament Ambassador Robert Wood said China's leverage was key and Beijing could do more.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the United States believed it could persuade China to impose new UN sanctions on North Korea and warned that the US government would "call out" states supporting Pyongyang and target them with sanctions too.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a closed-door meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council on the missile launch, Ms Haley made clear that Washington would only talk to North Korea once it halted its nuclear program.
The United States has been discussing possible new UN sanctions with China since North Korea's previous missile test about two weeks ago.
"The conversations that I have had ... in dealing with Beijing is that if (North Korea) did something else and if it looked to be long-range, which this does, and if it looks like it is proactively leaning toward an ICBM, which it does, then we would take action," she said.
"I believe that China will stay true to that and we will come together on how we're going to do that," she said.
"We have not seen anything from them in the past week but we are encouraging them to continue moving forward."
Yesterday the UN Security Council said it was vital that North Korea show "sincere commitment to denuclearisation through concrete action and stressed the importance of working to reduce tensions".
The council demanded North Korea halt its tests and said it was ready to impose further sanctions.
North Korea's foreign ministry rejected the statement, saying it infringed on its right to self-defence, particularly as the missile was fired at a sharp angle to ensure the safety of neighboring countries.
The Security Council first imposed sanctions on North Korea in 2006 and has stiffened them in response to its five nuclear tests and two long-range rocket launches. Pyongyang is threatening a sixth nuclear test.
