The foreign ministers of South Korea and China will hold phone talks later Friday to discuss North Korea's latest nuclear test, the Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, are scheduled to speak over the phone at 7 p.m. (local time), after a previously arranged phone call on Thursday was postponed at China's request, the ministry said in a text message to reporters.

They are expected to discuss ways to deal with North Korea after its fourth nuclear test Wednesday, which Pyongyang claims was its first test of a hydrogen bomb far more destructive than a conventional atomic bomb.

The issue has been brought to the U.N. Security Council. As it plans to impose additional sanctions on Pyongyang, Beijing's cooperation is crucial in the process.

China, North Korea's key ally and benefactor, has reportedly been in a dilemma over how to handle the issue. While the North's growing nuclear arsenal poses a security threat, punishing Pyongyang, which shares a border with China, could destabilize the regime and cause a headache for Beijing.

In phone talks Thursday, Yun and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the nuclear test as an unacceptable challenge to the international community and agreed to respond sternly to any provocations.

The South Korean minister has yet to discuss the issue with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, but the two sides are in talks to arrange a suitable time, according to officials here.

Yun spoke with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida shortly after the test on Wednesday.

The five countries are members of the currently stalled six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons program. (Yonhap)