Secretary of State John Kerry has offered the first signs of his priorities in Asia by offering dialogue to ease a crisis with North Korea, while vowing to keep a strong US interest in the region. Kerry made his Asian debut as the top US diplomat with a tour of China and allies Japan and South Korea after his third trip in office to the Middle East, an early focus that has unnerved pundits who see Asia as the future.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he would be making a stop on the way home from a 10-day overseas tour to visit the family of a young diplomat killed in Afghanistan. "The reason that I'm stopping in Chicago is to visit the parents of Anne Smedinghoff," Kerry told embassy staff just before leaving Tokyo, referring to a 25-year-old American who died in a bomb attack earlier this month. Smedinghoff was one of five Americans killed in separate attacks on April 6 in Afghanistan, one of the deadliest days of the year so far for foreigners in the war-torn country.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday he would be prepared to reach out to Pyongyang urging it back to negotiations, as he vowed Washington would protect Japan from North Korea's threats. Following talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, where Patriot missiles have been deployed in anticipation of a missile launch by the North, Kerry pledged the US would backstop its ally. "The United States is fully committed to the defence of Japan," Kerry told a joint press conference with Kishida.

Top US diplomat John Kerry regretted the resignation of Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad and urged Palestinians Sunday to find the right person to take on the tough job and work with the US. Fayyad quit after months of tensions with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, and only days after talks with Kerry who visited Israel and the Palestinian territories last week seeking to map out the contours of a new peace plan.