U.S. officials headed to Asia for 'intensive' talks on North Korea

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A high-level U.S. delegation is going to Asia for "intensive consultations" on what North Korea's increasingly alarming behavior means for U.S. security alliances in the region, senior administration officials tell CNN.
An image from North Korean television on April 9 shows leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang.

An image from North Korean television on April 9 shows leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang.

The trip will spin off Defense Secretary Robert Gates' previously announced trip to a regional security conference in Singapore and consultations in Tokyo, Japan, the senior officials said.

After those stops, a delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg is expected to travel to Beijing, Seoul and Moscow to discuss how the U.S. partners in the six-party talks should deal with North Korea, the senior officials said.

The State Department announced Thursday that Steinberg will accompany Gates to Singapore for the security conference, and then to Tokyo "for consultations with senior Japanese officials on a range of bilateral, regional and international issues." Defense ministers from Japan and South Korea are expected to be at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

The senior officials said that Steinberg then will lead a delegation to the other three stops. He is expected to be accompanied by Undersecretary of Defense Michelle Flournoy, Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth, and Jeffrey Bader, senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council, the officials said.

While North Korea is unpredictable, Pyongyang has said publicly it would conduct a nuclear test and missile tests and has proved true to its word.