The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, will visit South Korea, Japan and China from Sunday through next Saturday.

The U.S. Department of Defense said Dempsey added South Korea and Japan to his trip last minute to discuss a variety of issues, including tensions on the Korean peninsula. The chairman had originally planned to visit only China.

Dempsey will meet with his South Korean counterpart Jung Seung-jo as well as James Sherman, commander of the U.S. forces in South Korea, and discuss recent threats from North Korea and issues in Northeast Asia.