South Korea on Thursday welcomed the unanimous adoption of a fresh United Nations Security Council resolution slapping tough sanctions on North Korea for its recent provocations, urging the communist state to denuclearize.

Immediately after the Security Council passed the resolution punishing Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test and rocket launch, the government issued a statement stressing the international community's "stern will" to oppose the North's nuclear and missile programs.

"The resolution, adopted today, is an expression of the international community's stern will that the North's habitual nuclear tests and missile launches will no longer be tolerated," said the statement read out by Seoul's Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam.

The foreign ministry also vowed to make "all necessary efforts" in tandem with U.N. member nations to ensure that the resolution will be exhaustively enforced without any problem.

"We will further strengthen international cooperation so that North Korea will abandon its nuclear program in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner," the statement said, renewing calls for the North to take the path toward denuclearization.

The ministry also warned that Pyongyang would face "more serious consequences" should it set off another provocation.

After more than 50 days of tough negotiations, the UNSC endorsed a package of sanctions that U.N. officials say will be the "most stringent in more than two decades." The sanctions have been crafted to punish the North for its nuclear test on Jan. 6 and long-range rocket test on Feb. 7.

Aimed at cutting Pyongyang's access to hard currency, the resolution includes sanctions such as the mandatory inspection of all cargo going in and out of the North and a ban on the North's export of mineral resources, including coal, which comprise a significant chunk of the country's export earnings. 

The resolution also increases the number of blacklisted North Korean individuals and entities, and includes a ban on the sale of aviation fuel including rocket fuel to the North, which observers say would limit the North Korean military's air force operations and training. (Yonhap)