U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has embarked on her tour of four Asian states, including South Korea.

She will visit Japan from Monday to Wednesday, Indonesia Wednesday to Thursday, Korea Thursday to Friday and China for the final three days.

The focus of her discussions will be on the global economic downturn, climate change and regional security concerns. Added focus will be on North Korea's nuclear and missile issue, which Mrs. Clinton calls “the most acute challenge to stability in northeast Asia.”

Accordingly, while in Korea, Japan and China, she will discuss the resumption of the six-party nuclear talks and ways to prevent a possible test-fire of a North Korean ballistic missile.