The South Korean government has expressed expectations that a new U.S. executive order will further boost the effectiveness of sanctions on North Korea.

In a statement on Thursday, Seoul welcomed the latest U.S. executive order aimed at swiftly implementing sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council and the U.S. Congress.

Seoul said that the executive order shows Washington’s resolve to sternly deal with Pyongyang's repeated provocations, including nuclear tests and missile launches.

The government said it expects based on close cooperation with Washington, that the U.S. executive order will notably facilitate the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2270, the two countries’ own sanctions and other international punishments.

The executive order, which was signed Wednesday by U.S. President Barack Obama, targets the North's mineral trade, cyber terrorism and censorship. It also bans exporting to and investing in North Korea. Trade bans cover materials such as coal, computer software, metal and graphite.

It also activates an asset freeze on North Korean government officials and members of the regime’s ruling Workers’ Party, who are responsible for human rights abuses in the North. Their assets kept in store in the U.S. are also subject to the sanction.

In addition, the executive order has introduced ways to prevent North Korea from exporting labor to foreign countries. It calls for freezing the assets of any person found to have been involved in the exportation of workers from North Korea.

It is estimated that the North has dispatched around 100-thousand North Korean workers to around 40 countries, including 16 nations that have diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, such as Russia and China.

The executive order also enforces secondary boycotts, or slapping penalties on banks and firms in third countries that aid the regime.