Beijing  - Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama discussed North Korea by telephone on Wednesday, the Chinese government said.

There were no immediate details of their conversation on North Korea, but a report by the official Xinhua news agency said they also discussed bilateral issues.

The agency quoted Obama as saying the United States wanted to "boost coordination and cooperation with China on a broad range of major issues."

Both nations are trying to persuade North Korea to resume dialogue, amid rising tension following its recent testing of a nuclear device and a series of missiles, plus repeated threats against South Korea.

South Korean media on Tuesday quoted officials as saying North Korea appeared to be preparing to test a medium-range missile and an intercontinental missile.

US State Department Robert Wood on Tuesday said his government was sending envoys to other nations in the region to develop a "coordinated, common approach to dealing with the threat that the North poses to the international community."

Wood said there was "some progress" on agreeing a new resolution on North Korea in the UN Security Council, of which China and the United States are permanent members.

"This is clearly going to take some time," he said of the talks on the UN resolution.

"But as I said yesterday, there's a unity of purpose here to make - to hold the North accountable for the bellicose actions and threats that it has made over the last several weeks, months," Wood said.

The debate within the UN Security Council over punishment for North Korea began after its May 25 nuclear test, its second after an initial one in 2006.

The council condemned both tests, and after the first one barred North Korea country from conducting further nuclear and long-range missile tests.

In the past few years, China has hosted several rounds of protracted six-nation talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme in return for economic aid, a security guarantee and other incentives.

The United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia also joined the six-party talks. (dpa)