Seoul adopts resolution condemning Pyongyang rocket launch

South Korea's parliament on Wednesday adopted a resolution condemning North Korea's rocket launch, calling for effective sanctions against Pyongyang.

The National Assembly called an emergency plenary session on the final day of the five-day Lunar New Year holiday, passing the resolution with 241 votes in favour and seven abstentions, Xinhua reported.

The resolution said Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test and long-range missile test clearly violated UN Security Council resolutions, denouncing the reckless provocative acts threatening peace and security of the Korean peninsula and the international community.

Pyongyang launched a long-range rocket on Sunday to deliver an observation satellite into orbit.

On January 6, North Korea detonated what it claimed was its first H-bomb, the fourth of its nuclear blasts.

The long-range missile launch isolated Pyongyang further from the international community, the resolution said, noting that the consequent harsh price which North Korea should pay for its provocation will be totally blamed on its authorities.

The resolution urged Pyongyang to return to being a responsible member of the international community by giving up its nuclear and missile programmes and stopping provocations.

Lawmakers also called for the South Korean government to make all-out efforts, including seeking the adoption of strong and effective sanctions at the UN Security Council and the resumption of inter-Korean dialogue, in close cooperation with the international community.