US President Barack Obama led condemnation of North Korea's nuclear test, calling for a global response to what he said was a "threat to international peace".
Russia, current chair of the UN Security Council, convened an emergency meeting of the 15-member body later Monday to discuss the issue, while Japan and South Korea formed crisis management teams.
The European Union, Britain and France added their voices to the chorus of international concern after the communist North said Monday it had carried out its second nuclear test, more powerful that an atomic bomb test in 2006.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Pyongyang had also tested a short-range missile from its launch site at Musudan-ri near Kilju.
A Russian defence ministry spokesman confirmed the nuclear test, but the missile launch was not independently verified.
