North Korea 'could face further sanctions' after launching long-range rocket

North Korea could face further sanctions after launching a long-range rocket, Philip Hammond said, as the Foreign Office summoned Pyongyang's ambassador in London for a dressing down.

The Foreign Secretary, who was warned that North Korea's actions present a "threat to regional and international security", said economic sanctions would require the agreement of the UN Security Council.

An emergency session of the Security Council has been called in response to the launch, at the request of the US and Japan.

Setting out the UK's response, Mr Hammond said: "We will work with other partners, we have already strongly condemned North Korea's actions, we will be taking appropriate bilateral steps - summoning the North Korean ambassador as we always do when they carry out one of these tests.

"But we will be working with other partners, particularly the US, Japan, South Korea, in the United Nations, to take additional steps, additional measures against North Korea, stepping up the pressure on that country."

He added: "We are all focused on looking at additional economic sanctions which could be applied against North Korea."

Mr Hammond said the latest test did not mark a change in approach from North Korea, but was a continuation of "destabilising" behaviour.

North Korea under leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal unless Washington scraps what Pyongyang calls a hostile policy meant to collapse its government.

Mr Hammond said: "It's just a reaffirmation, if we needed one, that North Korea is embarked on a long-term programme to develop both a nuclear weapon and the means to deliver it over long distances against potential adversaries including the United States.

"North Korea's actions are extremely destabilising in the region and beyond, but there is nothing new here - this is part of a pattern of behaviour we have seen over many years.

"We have tried before to deter it, to divert them from it. They have engaged sporadically in discussions but at the moment they seem to be determined to defy the international community and to breach multiple UN resolutions."