The remaining 13 members of the Security Council all voted in favor of the US-led proposal to stop the export of tobacco and oil to North Korea, whose leader Kim Jong Un is a well-known chain smoker.
The punishment would also mean a blacklisting of the hacker group Lazarus, which the United States believes has ties to North Korea, according to Reuters.
The vote came a day after North Korea fired three missiles, including one considered the country's largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), close after US President Joe Biden's trip to Asia.
It was the latest in a series of ballistic missile launches from North Korea this year, which are banned by the Security Council.
Different opinions
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield described the vote as a "disappointing day" for the General Assembly.
"The world is facing a clear and current danger from North Korea," she told the council.
Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun argued that further sanctions against North Korea would not help but instead lead to more "negative effects and escalation of confrontation".
Russia's ambassador Vassily Nebenzia was on the same page when he expressed that new sanctions would only lead to "a dead end".
The General Assembly convenes
The UN General Assembly will now discuss the situation around North Korea over the next two weeks according to a new rule that requires the body's 193 members to gather after each veto in the Security Council.