WASHINGTON - United States envoy Stephen Bosworth will visit Asia this week as the pace quickens to discuss new approaches to stabilize the Korean Peninsula.

The US and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have been careful in seeking talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since last month. But China and Japan are both trying to get discussions under way as many analysts see Bosworth's visit as a precursor to the presumption of Six-Party Talks to denuclearize the DPRK.

Bosworth arrived in Seoul on Tuesday and will travel to Beijing the following day. He will continue to Tokyo on Thursday. In all three cities, he will meet with senior government officials. Sung Kim, special envoy for the Six-Party Talks, is accompanying Bosworth to Seoul and Beijing.

His visits come after US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and National Security Council Senior Director Jeff Bader visited the region last month.

"Stephen Bosworth will explain Washington's positions regarding North Korea to his counterparts in Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing," said Abraham Denmark, Asia-Pacific security expert at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank. "The visit is also an indication that the United States has heard the calls for dialogue coming from the region and wants to discuss an approach to (the DPRK) with its partners."

China has strongly supported talks between the DPRK and the ROK after Pyongyang and Seoul traded fire on Nov 23. The artillery attacks resulted in the death of four people on the ROK's Yeonpyeong Island.

Shortly afterward, Beijing proposed emergency discussions among delegations to the Six-Party Talks, involving the ROK, the DPRK, China, the US, Russia and Japan.

Last Wednesday, ROK President Lee Myung-bak softened his stance, saying the ROK has "no choice but to resolve the problem of dismantling North Korea's (DPRK) nuclear program diplomatically through the Six-Party Talks."

On Saturday, three newspapers in the DPRK issued a joint New Year editorial, stressing the country's will to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The editorial said the confrontation between the north and south should be defused as early as possible and that the DPRK would launch a more determined campaign to improve inter-Korean relations and reunify the country.

But the DPRK has to back up its words with action, said US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley on Monday.

"We'll see whether the North follows through on that offer for dialogue," he said. "Certainly, intra-communication across the Korean Peninsula is an essential element of easing tensions."

Washington has little to believe that Pyongyang will go through with denuclearization as the DPRK has repeatedly tested nuclear devices and recently revealed a clandestine uranium enrichment program.

"Dialogue and negotiation should not be abandoned as long as there exists a possibility of North Korea's peaceful denuclearization," Denmark said.

China Daily