The United States is "not neutral" about Japan's move to resolve its territorial tensions with South Korea through arbitration at an international court, a top American official said.

"Our position is not neutral with regard to the focus on dialogue and finding diplomatic means to address these issues,"

Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, on a visit to Tokyo, told reporters Monday (local time), according to a transcript of his remarks released by his department.

He was responding to a question as to whether Washington would take sides over Tokyo's plan to bring its territorial spat with Seoul to the International Court of Justice.

The U.S., seeking to bolster trilateral cooperation with South Korea and Japan, remains stuck in a dilemma amid a dispute between its key regional allies over Dokdo, a pair of volcanic outcroppings in the East Sea.

South Korea effectively controls Dokdo, but Japan also claims sovereignty, apparently a legacy of its imperialistic past.

The U.S. government has refused to articulate a stance towards the sovereignty issue itself.

It has instead called for a dialogue-based resolution.

"What the U.S. government supports is an approach that is focused on dialogue," Burns said. He met with Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba earlier in the day.

"I think South Korea and Japan, for many years, have demonstrated an ability to manage this responsibly. And our hope and expectation is, they'll continue to do that," he added. "The precise choice of which of those kinds of means is, obviously, up to the parties themselves."

Burns is scheduled to travel to Seoul later this week. (Yonhap News)