The UN Security Council(UNSC) will reportedly hold a meeting on Wednesday at the request of the United States over missile launches by North Korea and the possibility of an escalatory provocation by the regime. 

The move comes days after Pyongyang conducted what it said was a very important test at its west coast space launch facility.

According to Reuters on Monday, the European members of the UN Security Council had been pushing for a Tuesday meeting on human rights abuses in North Korea.

However, as president of the 15-member body for December, the U.S. reportedly decided to focus instead on the threat of escalation by North Korea in a Wednesday meeting. 

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Yonhap News on Monday that the department is instructing the U.S. Mission to the United Nations to propose that a comprehensive update on recent developments on the Korean Peninsula be part of the UNSC discussion.

This would include recent missile launches and the possibility of an escalatory provocation by North Korea.

[Photo : YONHAP News]