US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is to visit East Asia in the first half of January amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and concerns over China's maritime territorial claims, dpa reported.
Gates was scheduled to visit China January 9-12, Japan January 13-14 and South Korea on January 14, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said late Monday.
Morrell said Gates was to meet with the Chinese minister of national defence and other leaders to "sustain a dialogue aimed at improving our mutual understanding and reducing the risk of miscalculation."
In Japan, he was scheduled to meet with the defence minister and other senior members of the Japanese government "to discuss recent security developments in the region and to further develop our long-term agenda for strengthening and deepening the bilateral alliance," Morrell said.
Gates also added a stop in Seoul to the planned visits in Beijing and Tokyo, he said. The defence secretary was to meet his South Korean counterpart to "discuss North Korea's recent actions and consult on the way forward for the alliance to address the threats posed by North Korean provocations and its nuclear and missile programs," Morrell said.
Tensions in East Asia have flared since North Korea shelled a South Korean island in disputed waters in the Yellow Sea on November 23, killing two civilians and two soldiers.
Since the incident, the US, Japanese and South Korean navies have held a series of joint and separate exercises around the peninsula aimed at discouraging further provocation from the North.
In early December, the three countries' top diplomats met in Washington and reiterated their solidarity in facing down any threat from Pyongyang.
Japan and South Korea have each signed a defence alliance with the US.
China, North Korea's only ally, has so far resisted international calls, in particular from the White House, to rein in Pyongyang.
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