Clinton, the first top US diplomat for decades to make Asia her inaugural destination, has also identified climate change and the global economic crisis as key topics of her four-nation tour.

But she terms North Korea's nuclear programme "the most acute challenge to stability in northeast Asia". And Pyongyang upped the ante this week by signalling it will go ahead with a long-range missile test.

South Korea, whose military is on alert for any border provocation, says North Korea will top the agenda of Clinton's talks Friday, although it will also seek assurances that a planned free trade pact can still make progress.

The North has taken an increasingly belligerent posture towards Seoul's conservative government, which has reversed its predecessors' policy of largely unconditional aid and engagement.

Pyongyang has also staked out a tough stance in currently stalled nuclear disarmament talks involving the US, the two Koreas, China, Russia and Japan.

Clinton has backed the six-party process and stressed the diplomatic and economic rewards that full denuclearisation would bring but has also raised the prospect of greater bilateral contacts with the North.

A senior State Department official told AFP on condition of anonymity that although the South Koreans are concerned about the sabre-rattling by the North, the focus of Clinton's visit will be on how to revive the six-party talks.

"She's going to be talking to the (South) Koreans, she wants to hear their views on how we can better put pressure on the North. But military issues, that's not the focus of this (visit)," he said.

"She's going to be talking about the six-party framework, reaffirming our commitment to it and looking for ideas and ways from the Koreans as well as the Chinese for how we can get the North back on track."

Analyst Peter Beck last week underlined the importance of bilateral talks at a meeting of a US House foreign affairs subcommittee but also said the six-party talks and revived co-ordination between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo would be crucial.

Analysts see the North's preparations for a missile test as an attempt to take the upper hand over Washington in the disarmament negotiations.

They believe its long-term aim is to win US acceptance as a nuclear state -- retaining a few nuclear weapons in return for a shutdown of plutonium production and non-proliferation guarantees.

Clinton should reassure Asian allies that Washington is committed to complete denuclearisation and will not accept the North as a nuclear weapons state, analyst Bruce Klingner of the US Heritage Foundation has said.

The secretary of state has said the US is "absolutely committed" to full denuclearisation. And any missile launch "would be very unhelpful in moving our relationship forward," she said Tuesday in Japan.

Seoul's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan will meet her Friday for talks on getting the six-party negotiations back on track and other issues.

Yu said Wednesday the North's combined "long-range missile and nuclear capability will have a very serious impact on the world's peace and security."

Yu said the North is expected to depict any launch as an attempt to put a civilian satellite into orbit but it would still breach UN resolutions.

The United States is South Korea's oldest ally and stations 28,500 troops here to deter any North Korean attack. Seoul is seeking a "21st Century Strategic Alliance", strengthening cooperation not only in security but also in social, cultural and economic fields.

South Korea will push the United States for early Congressional ratification of a sweeping free trade agreement. While on the campaign trial, Barack Obama called the pact "badly flawed".

Clinton during her confirmation hearing urged Seoul to renegotiate provisions on the auto trade and beef shipments. In public at least, South Korean officials have refused to consider any renegotiation.

Apart from her talks with Yu, Clinton will hold talks with Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo and have a lunch meeting with President Lee Myung-Bak.

She is also scheduled to visit the joint South Korea-US military command and hold a "town hall" meeting at Ewha women's university before departing for Beijing.

earlier related report
SKorea says NKorea nuke, missile programmes "serious threat"
South Korea Wednesday described North Korea's nuclear and missile development as a serious threat to the world, as a media report said the communist state is operating a secret atomic programme.

"North Korea's missile is not a mere conventional weapon," said Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan, two days after Pyongyang signalled it would go ahead with a missile launch as part of a "space development" programme.

"The combination of its long-range missile and nuclear capability will have a very serious impact on the world's peace and security," Yonhap news agency quoted him as telling reporters.

The communist state tested an atomic weapon in 2006 but experts are unsure whether it yet has the technology to fit a nuclear warhead to its missiles.

Yu will meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Friday for talks on ways to revive stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations and other issues.

Clinton said Tuesday in Japan any missile launch "would be very unhelpful in moving our relationship forward".

South Korea says the North is preparing to test its longest-range missile, the Taepodong-2, which is theoretically capable of reaching Alaska.

On Monday the North signalled it would go ahead despite warnings from the United States, South Korea and Japan.

It said it has a right to pursue "peaceful" space research, a term it used in 1998 when it fired a missile over Japan.

The North said the 1998 exercise was a bid to launch a satellite, while its neighbours said the real intention was to test the missile.

Yu said North Korea is expected to follow a similar pattern this time around but a launch of any kind would still violate a UN Security Council Resolution adopted after the North's last missile test in 2006.

Sanctions would certainly follow, he said.

Defence Minister Lee Sang-Hee told ruling party leaders the North may complete launch preparations within two or three weeks.

The North has staked out a tough stance in the nuclear disarmament talks and analysts see any missile launch as an attempt to strengthen its bargaining hand with the US.

The North has shut down its Yongbyon plutonium-producing complex in return for energy aid as part of a 2007 six-nation pact.

But talks on the next stage -- full denuclearisation in return for diplomatic ties with Washington and a formal peace treaty -- are stalled by disputes over verifying its acknowledged nuclear activities.

Pyongyang has always denied US claims that it is secretly developing a separate weapons programme based on highly enriched uranium (HEU).

Seoul's Dong-A Ilbo newspaper said Wednesday that despite the denials the North is operating an underground HEU plant.

The paper, quoting an unnamed senior government source, said the plant is located at Sowi-ri in Yongbyon district, near the plutonium-based complex.

The National Intelligence Service refused to comment.

Cross-border tensions are high, with the North taking an increasingly belligerent posture towards Seoul's conservative government.

The government has reversed its predecessors' policy of largely unconditional aid and engagement. Pyongyang in return has imposed tight border curbs and scrapped all peace accords with Seoul.

"There is a possibility of a limited naval clash in the Yellow Sea," defence minister Lee was quoted by Yonhap as telling the party leaders.

The South Korean and US military command said an annual joint military exercise involving tens of thousands of troops would go ahead next month.

It said it had told the North -- which denounces such exercises and claims they are a rehearsal for invasion -- that the March 9-20 drill is purely defensive.

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