The government pledged to maintain close consultation with the United States, after China and Russia, two UN Security Council(UNSC) permanent members, submitted a draft resolution to ease sanctions on North Korea.

Cha Deok-cheol, the deputy spokesperson for the unification ministry, said on Friday that Seoul will monitor the situation and continue talks with the U.S. and other UNSC members on Korean Peninsula security and response steps.

Beijing and Moscow's draft resolution submitted late last month reportedly calls for the partial easing of sanctions affecting the North's economy, in consideration of the regime's suspended nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM) tests.

Earlier, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price urged all UN members to fulfill their sanctions obligations to limit the North's ability to acquire resources and technology needed to advance its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.