Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin urged his U.S. counterpart Chuck Hagel to take sanctions against Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.
To discourage others from using chemical weapons, everything possible must be done to punish Assad.
For this reason, Korea agreed with the U.S. that there should be concrete sanctions against Syria.
Seoul is particularly worried that impunity for Assad could embolden North Korea, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
"Similar messages were relayed by Turkish, Israeli and Saudi officials in recent days, telling President Barack Obama he must respond to Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons," the daily added.
The South Korean military believes the North has the world's third largest stockpiles of chemical weapons after the U.S. and Russia and could use them in an emergency. Its estimated 2,500 to 5,000 tons of chemical weapons are enough to kill or injure the entire South Korean population.
There is speculation that many warheads for the Scud missiles North Korea deploys on the frontline are tipped with chemical weapons.
Seoul and Washington have a plan to launch a preemptive strike if the North ever tries to use chemical weapons.
