(LEAD) S. Korea considering additional unilateral N.K. sanctions over ICBM launch: ministry

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SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is considering imposing additional unilateral sanctions against North Korea in response to its evolving missile and nuclear threats highlighted by its latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch (ICBM), according to Seoul's foreign ministry Thursday.

North Korea test-fired an ICBM earlier in the day, marking its seventh ICBM launch this year and first since May. Pyongyang fired more than 20 short-range missiles the day before, one of which landed in waters south of the de facto maritime border with South Korea, known as the Northern Limit Line.

"As North Korea's provocations continue, we are considering imposing additional unilateral sanctions," ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said during a press briefing. Last month, Seoul placed 15 North Korean individuals and 16 institutions on its blacklist in its first unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang in nearly five years.

Lim said South Korea was in "close consultations" with the United States, Japan and other allies on ways to enhance the effectiveness of its unilateral sanctions.

Earlier in the day, Seoul's First Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and his American counterpart, Wendy Sherman, condemned the North's latest provocations through phone consultations, describing the North's move as posing a "serious threat to the peace and stability" of the peninsula and the international community, according to the ministry.

They agreed on the need for the allies to maintain a strong combined defense posture as well as close cooperation on responses to the North's additional provocations, including those through the U.N. Security Council, amid speculation that it may soon carry out a nuclear test.

odissy@yna.co.kr
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