The UN Security Council has adopted a new round of sanctions against North Korea, including a substantial export ban on coal, the country’s main income source.

In response to the North’s fifth nuclear test in September, the 15 UNSC members, including the North’s close allies China and Russia, unanimously adopted Resolution 2321 on Wednesday.

The new resolution comes with tougher sanctions on the North than the previous resolutions against the North. In particular, the new resolution places a cap on the North’s coal exports to about 38 percent of the level seen last year.

Under the new resolution, the annual exports of coal originating in the North will not exceed 409 million U.S. dollars or seven-point-five million tons.

To raise the efficiency of the sanctions, UNSC members will be required to notify the sanctions committee of how much coal they import from the North within a one month period.

If a member informs that it exported 95 percent of the maximum permissible level, the committee will order the country to immediately cease procuring coal from the North for the year.

The new resolution also added silver, copper, nickel, and zinc to the current embargo list that banned trading gold, titanium and rare earth minerals with the North.

Also in the resolution, the UNSC banned the North from buying new helicopters and vessels, while warning that the North could be suspended from the exercise of the rights and privileges of UN membership.

It also called on members to reduce the number of staff at the North’s diplomatic missions and prohibit the North diplomatic missions from using their real estate properties for any other purposes.

The North Korean diplomats have been also urged not to be engage in commercial activities.

The new resolution also expressed concern about the North Korean workers sent overseas to make hard currency for the North Korean regime, a de-facto warning against hiring North Koreans.

The sanction measures, if implemented smoothly, are expected to reduce the North's exports by 800 million U.S. dollars a year. That's 27 percent of its annual outbound shipments.

However, many experts said much of its success depends on China, which has long been suspected of circumventing the rules to help its ally.