U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Bosworth will launch a four-nation tour around Asia on Wednesday.

U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters Tuesday that the former U.S. ambassador to South Korea will travel to Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo and Moscow to discuss North Korean issues.

Wood said Bosworth’s trip is aimed at seeking ways to convince North Korea to return to the six-way nuclear talks which have been stalled since the North’s April fifth rocket launch.

Bosworth will be leading an interagency delegation that includes special envoy for the six-party talks, Sung Kim.

Wood added that Bosworth has no current plans to visit North Korea. He is set to return to Washington next Thursday May 14.

Meanwhile, Washington is reportedly making active diplomatic efforts for the release of two U.S. journalists that have been detained in the communist state since March 17.