The United States is consulting with other members of the UN Security Council on response to the testing of a long-range missile the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK) is reportedly prepared to conduct, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Monday.

"Right now we are in consultation with various members of the council on what steps might be taken because it obviously would be very serious," Bolton told journalist before a Security Council meeting on Somalia.

"But in any event we are just now in the preliminary consultations phase," he added, without specifying the countries the Washington is consulting with.

Recent Japanese and South Korean media reports said that there were signs showing the DPRK was preparing for the launch of a Taepodong-2 long-range missile.

Source: Xinhua