South Korea voiced support on Saturday for a vote by the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) that will impose more sanctions on North Korean officials and entities after the communist nation carried out a series of defiant missile tests.

"Our government supports the UNSC's June 2 unanimous vote in adopting resolution 2356 in the face of continued ballistic missile launches by North Korea," Cho June-hyuck, the foreign ministry's spokesman, said in a statement.

On Friday, local time, in New York, the 15-member UNSC adopted Resolution 2356, adding a total of four entities and 14 officials to the sanctions list, including the North's Strategic Rocket Force. The United States drafted the resolution after weeks of negotiations with China.

Cho also said the government will continue efforts towards an "essential denuclearization of North Korea" by using all means necessary, including sanctions as well as dialogue.

The spokesman also urged Pyongyang to "cease provocations that put the Korean Peninsula and the peace of Northeast Asia at danger."

Three other North Korean entities included in the resolution were Koryo Bank, Kang Bong General Trading Corp. and Korea Kumsan Trading Co. 

The 14 individuals include Cho Il-u, director of the Fifth Bureau of the spy agency Reconnaissance General Bureau; Kim Chol-nam, head of Korea Kumsan Trading; Kim Tong-ho, Tanchon Commercial Bank representative in Vietnam; Pak Han-se, vice chairman of the Second Economic Committee; Paek Se Pong, former chairman of the Second Economy Committee; Jo Yong-Won is the vice director of the Organization and Guidance Department; Pak To-chun, a former Workers' Party secretary; and Ri Jae-il, first vice director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department.

The latest addition brought the total number of those on the list to 53 individuals and 46 entities. Those who are blacklisted will be slapped with a global asset freeze and travel ban. (Yonhap)