The White House says it won't rule out the possibility of additional sanctions against North Korea following its latest submarine launched ballistic missile(SLBM) test.
 
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a regular briefing on Wednesday that the United States continues to be "concerned by the provocative destabilizing actions of the North Korean regime."
 
Earnest added that over the past year or so, Washington has been able to work effectively with Beijing to apply additional pressure on Pyongyang. 

He said the U.S.' ability to unite the international community, including China, to present a united front to North Korea and deepen their isolation will be critical to Washington's ability to apply sufficient pressure to change the North's behavior.  
 
Asked if there could be additional sanctions against the North, the spokesman said he would not in any way take it off the table, but added that he doesn't have anything more to report. However, he said that although sanctions have worked well in other places, North Korea is a rather unique place and it's not clear if sanctions will work in exactly the same way. 
 
In regards to Beijing's opposition to the deployment of the U.S. THAAD battery in South Korea, Earnest said Washington has made clear that THAAD is a defense missile and that it shouldn't be a subject of concern for China.