U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to impose "the strongest possible measures" on North Korea over its sixth and most powerful nuclear test yet, saying, "Enough is enough."

At an emergency open council meeting, she said Pyongyang's nuclear program is now "more advanced and more dangerous than ever" and that the incremental sanctions approach of the 15-member council to the country since 2006 had not worked.

"The time for half measures in the Security Council is over. The time has come to exhaust all of our diplomatic means before it's too late. We must now adopt the strongest possible measures," she said.

Haley said the United States will circulate a new draft Security Council sanctions resolution this week in hope of voting on it on Sept. 11.

In a similar vein, Japanese Ambassador Koro Bessho pointed to the need for tougher sanctions as the threat North Korea poses "has entered truly a new level -- more grave and imminent."

Attention is now on whether new sanctions will include such tough measures as an oil embargo, controls on North Korean textile exports and a ban on North Korean workers working abroad.

North Korea said Sunday it detonated a hydrogen bomb that can be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile in its nuclear test.

The test is the first since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January and is a direct challenge to his administration as it continues to struggle to come up with steps to rein in North Korea.

That prompted U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to warn Pyongyang that any attack on the United States or its allies South Korea and Japan would be met with "a massive military response."

Washington, Tokyo and some other capitals have called for further piling pressure on Pyongyang until the country gives up its nuclear and missile programs.

In contrast, China, the key benefactor of North Korea, and Russia have stuck to their stance of seeking a peaceful resolution to the crisis on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue.

Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi prodded North Korea to "stop taking actions that are wrong, deteriorating the situation, and not in line with its own interests either, and truly return to the track of solving the issue through dialogue."

"China will never allow chaos and war on the peninsula," he said, adding the parties concerned must make joint efforts together to ease the situation, restart the dialogue and talks, and prevent further deterioration of the situation on the peninsula."

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said military solutions cannot settle the North Korea issue and that "there is an urgent need to maintain a cool head and refrain from any action that can escalate tensions."

"A comprehensive settlement to the nuclear and other issues plaguing the Korean peninsula can be arrived at solely through political diplomatic channels, including by leveraging the mediation efforts" of U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, he said.

Haley accused North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of "begging for war" and said that while the United States does not want conflict, "our country's patience is not unlimited."

 U.N. Security Council holds emergency meeting on N. Korea

North Korea last carried out a nuclear test in September last year, the purpose of which, according to Pyongyang, was to assess the explosive power of a nuclear warhead to be loaded on a ballistic missile.

North Korea is banned by the United Nations from any tests of nuclear or ballistic missile technology and is already subject to tough international sanctions.

But North Korea insists that it has a legitimate right to develop the technologies for self-defense against what it perceives as security threats from the United States and other "hostile" forces.

On Aug. 5, the Security Council imposed fresh sanctions on Pyongyang that aim to slash the country's $3 billion annual export revenue by a third.

The sanctions ban North Korea from exporting coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood so as to curb funding sources for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile ambitions.

They also forbid U.N. member countries from increasing the number of North Korean laborers working abroad, such as in China and Russia.