Moon, Abe agree on strong NKorea sanctions

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have agreed to pursue stronger United Nations sanctions against North Korea after Pyongyang's sixth nuclear test a day earlier .

"Both heads of state agreed to cooperate closely with each other and the United States and shared the understanding there must be the most powerful sanctions and pressure applied on North Korea," presidential spokesman Park Su-hyun told a media briefing.

"And as part of that they agreed to push for more powerful UN sanctions," Park said after Moon and Abe spoke for about 20 minutes by phone. The aim of stronger sanctions was to draw North Korea into dialogue, he said.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Abe condemned in a phone call North Korea's "continued destabilising and provocative actions," the White House said.

Trump also reaffirmed that Washington would defend itself and its allies "using the full range of diplomatic, conventional, and nuclear capabilities at our disposal," the White House said.

"The two leaders condemned North Korea's continued destabilising and provocative actions, confirmed the two countries' ironclad mutual defense commitments, and pledged to continue close cooperation," it said in a statement.