Gates will stop Friday and Saturday in Singapore to attend an annual security conference expected to be dominated by North Korea's belligerent stance.

"This is clearly the most urgent issue in the region right now," said a senior US defense official.

In Singapore, the Pentagon chief will take part in a three-way meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Yasukazu Hamada, and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-Hee.

"Undoubtedly, developments in North Korea over the weekend will be a focus of that conversation," said Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell.

In a sign of the escalating tensions two days after Pyongyang announced it had tested a nuclear weapon, the communist regime said Wednesday it regarded South Korea's decision to join a US-led counter-proliferation initiative as "a declaration of war."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton quickly reacted by promising to honor US commitments to defend South Korea and Japan.

"Both of our allies that are closest to North Korea have significant concerns," said another senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said the United States wanted to "jointly work together on what the proper response should be," as the UN Security Council considers sanctions against North Korea.

"We want to work with Asia on Asia's problems," the official said.

Gates will use the eighth annual Shangri-La Dialogue, organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, to emphasize President Barack Obama's desire to engage the region, which Clinton visited in February.

China's growing clout as the world's number three economy also will be part of the discussions, along with US concerns about Beijing's drive to modernize its military.

A recent Pentagon report warned that Chinese military developments threaten the region's strategic balance.

"So far military engagement (with China) has been going relatively well but there is always room for improvement," said the first US defense official.

From October until the end of February, China had suspended military-to-military contacts with Washington in protest against 6.5 billion dollars in US arms sales to Taiwan.

Since then, the military chiefs of two powers have resumed contact. But two naval incidents between Washington and Beijing, the first in the South China sea and another in the Yellow Sea, have created friction in recent months.

Gates is expected to meet in Singapore with a senior Chinese military official. He also will have bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Mongolia.

Gates will travel Sunday to the Philippines, where some 600 US soldiers are training and providing support to the Philippines military in their campaign against Communist New Peoples Army rebels in the south of the country.

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