South Korea Thursday unveiled a list of 60 submarine components that will be banned from being shipped to North Korea as part of efforts to curb the reclusive country's drive to develop weapons of mass destruction.

The items on the watch list can all contribute to North Korea's development of submarines that can potentially be armed with ballistic missiles.

The watch list is intended to caution the international community against selling such components to Pyongyang. Seoul plans to share the list with other countries and actively push to stop such components from reaching the North.

Included on the list are steel plates, acoustic coating and underwater communication systems, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The banned items can help prevent North Korea from improving its submarine-launched ballistic missile capabilities by encouraging tighter control of key components," the ministry said. (Yonhap)