He said South Korea supported the UN Security Council sanctions against the DPRK, but stressed that the resolution underlined the need to intensify diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue peacefully.

"A military option should be excluded as a means of breaking the impasse," said Cho Chang-Beom.

French President Jacques Chirac, in his telephone talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, put great emphasis on the importance of the international community's unity in dealing with the DPRK nuclear issue, the spokesman for the Presidential l'Elyse Palace, Jereme Bonnafont said on Monday.

According to Bonnafont, the two leaders called for joint international action to prevent nuclear proliferation and they agreed to work closely in dealing with nuclear issues concerning the DPRK and Iran.

Thailand's Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram on Tuesday expressed his nation's support for the UN sanctions against the DPRK over its nuclear test.

"It's a UN Security Council's resolution to which we must conform," Nitya said.

Meanwhile, the minister repeatedly called on the DPRK to return to the six-party talks, to bring an end to the nuclear standoff in the Korean peninsula.

Resolution 1718, unanimously adopted by the 15-strong body on Saturday, imposes sanctions on the DPRK in areas related to the weapons of mass destruction and demands that Pyongyang eliminate all its nuclear weapons and returns to the six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear program.