North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un is seen at the President Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 1, 2019. Reuters

The United Nations Security Council will meet this week to discuss North Korea's recent missile launches and the possibility of an escalatory provocation by the regime, Reuters reported Monday, citing diplomats and a request from the United States.

The meeting will be held publicly Wednesday, according to Reuters, just days after North Korea announced it conducted an unspecified "very important test" at its Dongchang-ri satellite launch site. Experts have suggested the test on Saturday may have involved an engine for a new long-range missile.

That the request was made by the U.S., which serves as president of the council this month, may indicate that Washington will not tolerate the latest escalation of threats by the North.

When European Union members of the 15-member council condemned Pyongyang's short-range ballistic missile launches in recent months, the U.S. did not take part in the joint action.

"In light of recent events on the Korean Peninsula and the President's Dec. 5 meeting with the Permanent Representatives to the U.N. Security Council, the State Department is instructing (the U.S. Mission to the United Nations) to propose to have the U.N. Security Council discussion on North Korea this week include a comprehensive update on recent developments on the Korean Peninsula, including recent missile launches and the possibility of an escalatory DPRK provocation," a U.S. State Department spokesperson said earlier Monday.

DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.