Obama to Make First Trip to Asia Next Month

5356466President Obama will make his first trip to Asia as president in November, the White House formally announced Wednesday. He will visit Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea.

The president will begin his trip in Tokyo, Japan, on November 12 and will meet for the second time with the Japanese prime minister, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

"The president's visit will provide an opportunity to deepen coordination with this key ally on a range of economic, security and other issues," he said.

From there, Mr. Obama will travel to Singapore for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, where he will meet with leaders from the APEC member economies and business leaders from the Asian-Pacific region. The president will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders from Singapore and other partners.

Mr. Obama will also hold the first-ever meeting between a U.S. president and leaders of the 10 Southeast Asian nations that make up the ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

He will then visit China and hold his third bilateral meeting with President Hu Jintao to work on a range of issues, including security, nonproliferation, energy and climate change.

The last leg of the trip will be a stop in Seoul, South Korea, where Mr. Obama will hold his third bilateral meeting with President Lee and consult on North Korea and other issues.

While the president has previously discussed visiting Indonesia, where he spent part of his childhood, Gibbs said Wednesday that Mr. Obama will most likely visit there some time next year.