Obama: U.S. will not accept a nuclear North Korea

WASHINGTON — President Obama condemned North Korea's newest nuclear test Friday, promising new sanctions "to demonstrate to North Korea that there are consequences to its unlawful and dangerous actions."

Obama's written statement, released by the White House Friday morning, contained some of Obama's most blunt language on the North Korean nuclear program to date. It came hours after the isolated communist regime said it had tested its largest nuclear warhead yet — and designed it to sit atop a ballistic missile.

"To be clear, the United States does not, and never will, accept North Korea as a nuclear state," Obama said. "Far from achieving its stated national security and economic development goals, North Korea's provocative and destabilizing actions have instead served to isolate and impoverish its people through its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities."

'Fanatic recklessness': Nations rip North Korea for reported nuke test

Obama returned early Friday morning from meetings with world leaders in Asia, where North Korea's nuclear program was on the agenda. Obama said he also spoke with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe since returning, promising an "unshakable U.S. commitment to take necessary steps to defend our allies in the region."

But the leaders have also acknowledged that the sanctions regime still has a huge loophole, as long as China continues as North Korea's largest trading partner and de facto patron.