The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the inspections were part of 13 elements for a draft resolution circulated by US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton earlier Monday to punish Pyongyang for its first-ever nuclear weapons test.

US media have quoted intelligence officials saying one option being considered is to have US and allied naval forces intercept and search all North Korean bound shipping for weapons-related material.

The diplomat said the tentative draft "would authorize international inspection of cargo to and from North Korea to limit proliferation" and "prohibit trade in all materials with direct or dual use application for weapons of mass destruction (WMD)."

Other elements would also call for suspending "all activities related to (North Korea's) ballistic missile programs", urge "member states to take steps to ensure their territory is not used to facilitate WMD-related activities" and bar "financial transactions that support missile activities."

"I laid out the number of elements that the United States was asking Council members to consider in a sanctions resolution under Chapter Seven," Bolton told reporters after the council met behind closed doors to consider the issue.

Chapter Seven of the UN charter provides for mandatory sanctions or even as a last resort military action to ensure compliance with council resolutions in cases of "threats to international peace and security."

"The entire discussion took only 30 minutes. And that's remarkable in the Security Council to have a unanimous condemnation of the North Korean test, no one defended it, no one even came close to defend it," Bolton said. "I was very impressed by the unanimity of the council on the need of a strong and swift answer."

China's UN envoy Wang Guangya, whose country maintains close ties with Pyongyang, said he was ready to discuss with his colleagues "how the council should react constructively and prudently with regard to this challenge."

The US ideas would have the council "prohibit trade in all military goods and services" as well as "trade in luxury goods", "freeze assets and transactions associated with WMD" and take steps "to prevent abuse of financial system", an apparent reference to alleged counterfeiting activities by the North, according to the diplomat.

The tentative draft would also condemn Monday's test and reinforce missile-related sanctions passed by the Security Council last July after Pyongyang test-fired seven missiles in Japan's direction, including a long-range Taepodong-2 believed to be capable of striking US soil.

The US suggestions, to be taken up by council experts later Monday, call for a review of North Korea's "response" and "the need for additional action in 30 days."

Last week, Japan, which chairs the council for October, and the United States had pushed for inclusion of a threat to slap an arms embargo and other trade and financial measures under Chapter Seven of the UN charter, if North Korea went ahead with its test.

But in the face of opposition from China and Russia, the explicit mention of sanctions was removed from a non-binding statement adopted by the council Friday.

The United States, China, Russia, South Korea and Japan engaged North Korea in negotiations a year ago aimed at convincing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program in exchange for economic and diplomatic rewards.

But North Korea walked away from the six-party talks two months later, after Washington slapped sanctions on a Macau-based bank it said was involved in money-laundering and counterfeiting on behalf of Pyongyang.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.