Obama's visit to highlight emphasis on Asia
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Japan and South Korea
Obama's Japan visit comes amid prickly relations with its major ally, as the island nation's new government seeks to shift the dynamics of the long-standing alliance. Japan's new government wants to create a "relationship of equals," against the domination of their ties by the United States since the end of World War II.
Japan's newly found firmness has resulted in a row over the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Base in Okinawa, which Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama suggested could be re-located outside the island, despite the Obama administration's blunt rejection.
But, at the same time, the country also hopes to maintain good relations with the United States, analysts say.
Gibbs said Obama would have two meetings with Hatoyama, adding that talks with the "key ally" would cover security, economic and other issues.
Despite the spat, analysts doubt whether the Futenma issue will surface during the talks.
"I don't think the president will bring it up," said Sheila A. Smith, senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. "Both governments understand that the meeting is not the best venue for this conversation."
Obama's last stop, the Republic of Korea, will provide an opportunity to hold his third bilateral meeting with President Lee Myung Bak and consult on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, coordinate on a range of regional and global issues and further strengthen the U.S.-South Korean alliance, Gibbs said.
Analysts said the nuclear issue involving the DPRK was expected to dominate Obama's talks with Lee.
The DPRK sent a representative to the United States on the stalled six-party talks at the end of last month. Ri Gun, DPRK's deputy negotiator in the six-party talks, met the U.S. special envoy on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.
Seoul, expressing a cautious welcome to such contact, hopes to learn more about the U.S. policy on the DPRK. It also expects to have Obama's support for the plan it put forward for the DPRK to abandon its nuclear pursuit in exchange for an international security guarantee and economic aid.
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