South Korea has referred North Korea to a U.N. sanctions committee over its recent test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

On May 9, North Korea claimed it successfully carried out an SLBM test underwater, renewing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. If confirmed, the test would be a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban any launch by North Korea that uses ballistic missile technology.

South Korea has sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council's North Korea Sanctions Committee to ask it to address the issue, according to ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il.

"Therefore, I understand that there will be consultations within the Security Council's sanctions committee," he said during a press briefing.

During a trip to Seoul last week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said discussions are under way to put more pressure on the North "either through sanctions or other means."

Asked whether the letter could be seen as a coordinated response by Seoul and Washington, Noh recalled previous cases when not only South Korea, but other countries also sent letters to the committee following the North's violation of Security Council resolutions.

"The letter we sent this time and the underwater SLBM test-launch will likely be discussed when the committee holds its regular review in the near future," he said.

The spokesman declined to disclose the contents of the letter or the date it was sent, citing policy.

North Korea is already under a set of sanctions for its missile and nuclear tests.

South Korea is not a member of the U.N. Security Council, but it has reportedly been in close consultations with the U.S. and other member nations to bring the issue of the SLBM test to the sanctions committee. (Yonhap)