The UN Security Council should go beyond simply discussing North Korea's human rights violations and take "meaningful action," South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Thursday, as the council is considering fresh sanctions on Pyongyang for its fifth nuclear test.

Yun made the remark during a meeting with South Korean correspondents in New York, saying the North's human rights abuses will be one of the key focuses of an address he was scheduled to deliver at the UN General Assembly later in the day.

Yun said it makes no sense for the North to ask for international aid to cope with the aftermath of a massive flood after wasting money on a nuclear test. "North Korea cares nothing about people's hardships while wasting an enormous amount of money. I will strongly point out these dual attitudes and the North's disregard for human rights at the United Nations," Yun told reporters

Yun's remarks came as the Security Council has been working on new sanctions on the North for its Sept. 9 nuclear test, and suggest that a new sanctions package could include measures with regard to Pyongyang's human rights violations.

A senior government official also said on condition of anonymity that the Security Council might impose sanctions not only over the North's nuclear and missile programs, but also over its human rights abuses. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official also said a new sanctions resolution is expected to be adopted in a shorter period of time than after the North's fourth nuclear test in January when it took 57 days to adopt a resolution.

"I expect an additional resolution will be adopted within a reasonable period of time," the official said.

The official also said that the previous resolution, considered the toughest sanctions on the North ever, is having considerable effects on the North. The US is also expected to take additional unilateral sanctions on Pyongyang, too, the official said.

The official said it's not the right time to hold negotiations with the North because it could justify the North's bad behavior.

The UN General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution calling for referring the issue to the International Criminal Court for two years in a row in 2014 and last year. Under the resolutions, the Security Council also held discussions on the issue twice.

While in New York, Yun said he has held meetings with various US figures that could lead the security and foreign policy in the next US administration. He did not provide further specifics, including who those people were, and which campaign they're with.

Yun said that he stressed in those meetings that the Korea-US alliance is a key pillar in the Asia-Pacific region and a core point of the rebalancing toward Asia-Pacific, and that the Korea-US free trade agreement has contributed greatly to enhancing mutual interests of the two countries. (Yonhap)