SYDNEY - AUSTRALIA on Monday condemned North Korea's 'provocative behaviour' and urged it to return to disarmament talks after the Pyongyang government threatened to increase its nuclear arsenal.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia's non-resident ambassador to North Korea had delivered the tough line directly to the communist state's leaders during a visit last week.

'Australia will continue to urge North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programmes and again calls on North Korea to end its provocative behaviour and return, without preconditions, to the six-party talks,' Mr Smith said in a statement.

North Korea on Saturday said it would build more nuclear bombs and start a new uranium weapons programme after the United Nations Security Council imposed fresh sanctions following last month's atomic test.

Mr Smith said Australia would act in line with Resolution 1874, passed on Friday, which tightens inspections of North Korean ships suspected of carrying banned nuclear or weapons items.

'At this stage we don't have any ships in what you'd regard as the relevant location,' he told ABC TV.

'But if that were to come to pass, Australia would act consistently with the United Nations Security Council resolution which the Security Council adopted over the weekend.'

The United States, a six-party talks member along with North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, has also pledged to enforce the new UN resolution. -- AFP