SEOUL (REUTERS) - South Korea said on Saturday (Feb 24) new United States sanctions on North Korea will bolster international community compliance with United Nations resolutions aimed at pressing the isolated state to give up its development of nuclear weapons.

"New US sanctions will alert those who are illegally trading with North Korea and therefore bolster the international community to carry out resolutions from the UN Security Council," the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry reaffirmed that South Korea and the United States would work closely to achieve North Korea's denuclearisation peacefully.