North Korean diplomats and "illicit" cash transfers to step up pressure on Pyongyang's nuclear program.But the isolated North fueled tensions, threatening to scrap an armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War and warning that it could launch "strong" counter-measures against what it called U.S. hostility.
U.S. ambassador Susan Rice circulated the text of a sanctions resolution to the other 14 members of the Security Council on Tuesday. Diplomats said a vote could be held on Thursday.
The proposed measures would "take the U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea to the next level, breaking new ground and imposing significant new legal obligations," Rice told news hounds after the closed council meeting.
"For the first time ever, this resolution targets the illicit activities of North Korean diplomatic personnel, North Korean banking relationships, illicit transfers of bulk cash and new travel restrictions."
She said that if passed, the measures "will significantly impede North Korea's ability to develop further its illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs."
The United States and China have been negotiating the measures since the North staged its third nuclear test on February 12.