NORTH KOREA'S latest nuclear test has been condemned by the United Nations which promised new sanctions against the country's regime.

Pyongyang confirmed on Friday it had conducted a fifth, "higher level" nuclear explosion which officials hope will allow them to build stronger, smaller and lighter nuclear weapons.

The detonation, which triggered an earthquake with a magnitude of 5, resulted in an emergency session of the UN's Security Council as North Korea hit back that it would not submit to "nuclear blackmail".

A statement agreed by all 15 Council members said diplomats will draft a new resolution in response to its earlier promise to take "further significant measures" if the North continues to defy the international community.

The measures will be under Article 41 of the UN Charter, which specifies non-military actions including sanctions.

US ambassador Samantha Power said the council must use "every tool at its disposal" including new sanctions "to demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences for its unlawful and dangerous actions".

Power described it as brazen defiance of the international community. "North Korea is seeking to perfect its nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles so they can hold the region and the world hostage under threat of nuclear strikes."

World leaders and ministries including US president Barack Obama and China’s foreign ministry have condemned the test.

In response, Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's ruling party newspaper said: "Gone are the days never to return when the US could make a unilateral nuclear blackmail against the DPRK."