US Secretary of State due in Bangkok

Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met privately and posed for a photo after a working lunch at the US-Asean meeting in Washington in May. (Photo via Twitter/Foreign Ministry)

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia from Saturday through Aug 9 for talks with his counterparts in the region as North Korea has escalated tensions by test-launching two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month, the State Department said Tuesday.

During the Bangkok leg of his visit, Mr Tillerson will pay respects to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

In talks with Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai and other officials, he is expected to stress the "enduring" US-Thailand partnership and regional issues, according to the department.

Mr Tillerson is intimately familiar with Thailand. As a rising executive on his way to become chief of Exxonmobil, he was president of Esso Exploration and Production Khorat Inc.

He directed the ramping up of production in Thailand's first commercial natural gas field at Nam Phong district of Khon Kaen.

In Manila, Mr Tillerson will attend a series of foreign ministerial meetings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other regional powers at which North Korea's weapons programs and China's militarization of disputed areas in the South China Sea are likely to top the agenda.

The meetings are also expected to focus on US policy toward Asia following the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in January, as well as a rising threat of terrorism in the region such as the siege by Islamic State-linked militants of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

"During these meetings, Secretary Tillerson will meet with his counterparts and discuss a range of issues including the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, maritime security, and counterterrorism," the department said in a statement.

Mr Tillerson is scheduled to participate in a US-Asean foreign ministerial meeting and a Lower Mekong Initiative ministerial meeting on Sunday, as well as a foreign ministerial meeting of the East Asia Summit and the Asean Regional Forum on Monday.

The EAS brings together the 10-member Asean and other regional powers such as Japan, China, South Korea, India, Russia and Australia. The ARF also involves North Korea.

"Secretary Tillerson's travel reaffirms the administration's commitment to further broaden and enhance US economic and security interests in the Asia-Pacific region," the statement said.

In a draft of a joint statement to be issued after an Asean foreign ministers meeting Saturday in Manila, the 10 ministers will express "grave concern" about North Korea's test ICBM launches on July 4 and last Friday.

"Noting that these developments threaten peace and stability in the region, we urged the DPRK to fully and immediately comply with its obligations under the relevant U.N. Security Council Resolutions" banning Pyongyang from conducting nuclear and missile activities, the draft statement says.

DPRK is an acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

In Kuala Lumpur, the top US diplomat will meet Malaysian officials to discuss strengthening cooperation on a range of issues in the 60th year of bilateral relations, it said.