“The Security Council urges the DPRK not to undertake such a test and to refrain from any action that might aggravate tension, to work on the resolution of non-proliferation concerns and to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through political and diplomatic efforts,” the 15-member body said in a presidential statement.

The statement, read out in open session by the Council’s President for October, Japanese Ambassador Kenzo Oshima, expressed “deep concern” at the DPRK’s statement on Tuesday that it intended to conduct a nuclear test, adding that “it would jeopardize peace, stability and security in the region and beyond.”

Such a move “would bring universal condemnation by the international community and would not help the DPRK to address the stated concerns particularly with regard to strengthening its security,” it said.

“Should the DPRK ignore call of the international community, the Security Council will act consistent with its responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations,” it concluded.

The statement also called on the DPRK to return immediately without preconditions to the Six-Party talks that has been seeking a peaceful solution to the crisis stemming from its nuclear programme, “and in particular to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes” so as to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

The talks in Beijing between China, DPRK, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States have been going on sporadically for several years.

The Council deplored the DPRK’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nearly four years ago and called on the country to comply fully with all the provisions of Security Council resolution 1695 of July, which demanded that it suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile programme.