BEIJING--US Senator John Kerry said Thursday China will support UN Security Council action on North Korea and agrees the isolated regime must face the consequences of this week's nuclear test.

"As for the UN Security Council action on North Korea, Foreign Minister Yang (Jiechi) agreed with us that North Korea's actions were wrong and that there need to be consequences," Kerry told journalists in Beijing.

"China will support a, quote unquote, measured response that is being negotiated in New York," he said on the last day of a nearly week-long visit to China.

Kerry's comments came after Western diplomats at the UN said key powers were committed to broadening sanctions against Pyongyang after its May 25 nuclear test, but the exact nature of the punishment was still being negotiated.

Kerry, who is in Beijing to gauge China's position on upcoming global climate change negotiations, had met with Yang and other Chinese officials on North Korea.

"What North Korea has done is both reckless and counterproductive," he said of the second underground nuclear test conducted by the Stalinist nation.

"It will do absolutely nothing to advance their security interests. On the contrary their pursuit of nuclear weapons will only deepen their political and economic isolation."

Kerry further urged North Korea to return to the six-nation disarmament negotiations, which are hosted by China and include North and South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia.