Defense Secretary James Mattis warned North Korea on Sunday that any future threat they posed to the U.S. or its allies would be met with a "massive military response."

"Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam or our allies, will be met with a massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming," Mattis said in a brief statement before reporters.

The warning came following a launch earlier on Sunday where North Korea conducted its sixth, and most powerful, nuclear test to date. In his statement, Mattis said he had just come from a "small group national security meeting today with the president and the vice president about the latest provocation on the Korean peninsula."

"We have many military options and the president wanted to be briefed on each one of them," he added.

In a tweet earlier on Sunday, President Donald Trump said the U.S. was "considering, in addition to other options, stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea."

Mattis said the U.S. stood with its allies against the North Korean threat posed by their nuclear weapons program and emphasized "we have the ability to defend ourselves and our allies — South Korea and Japan, from any attack, and our commitments among the allies are ironclad."

Mattis, who was flanked by Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggested North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un should "take heed" of the United Nations National Security Council's "unified voice" against North Korea's actions.

"All members unanimously agreed on the threat North Korea poses. And they remain unanimous in their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, because we are not looking to the total annihilation of a country — namely, North Korea," Mattis said.