Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, sent a strong message to North Korea today after the rogue nation fired two more short-range missiles into the ocean Tuesday, a day after they tested a nuclear bomb.

"We are prepared to step up our efforts to interdict and inspect ships with suspect North Korean cargo," Rice told MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" this morning. Rice also vowed that the United States will act in other ways to send the message that  "this is the wrong path for North Korea to pursue and that they will pay a price."

It’s an early test for the Obama administration. The president blasted North Korea for "blatant violation of international law." 

Pyongyang fired the missiles today, despite global uproar from the United Nations and elsewhere after it test-fired three others on Monday. Even China and Russia — typically allies of the communist country — criticized North Korea for the launch. The United States said it would lead an effort to intercept ships from North Korea or other countries suspected of carrying nuclear cargo, The Washington Post says; South Korea is on board with that effort, which North Korea isn’t taking too kindly. South Korea and Japan said today that the test poses a serious threat to regional peace.

"The DPRK’s nuclear test not only poses a serious threat to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, and southeast Asia and beyond, but also represents a grave challenge to the international non-proliferation regime," said South Korean disarmament ambassador Im Han-tauck. In return, Reuters reports, North Korea blasted South Korea and Japan for denouncing the test, saying that could prevent it from supporting efforts to curb production of atomic bomb-making material. The UN Security Council on Monday said North Korea violated a 2006 resolution barring it from using nuclear weapons.

Watch President Obama’s remarks about North Korea’s missile launch below: