WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Thursday he plans to visit South Korea, Japan and China in November on his first trip to Asia since taking office.

His visit would come at a time of heightened tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Trump, who has vowed not to let North Korea strike the US with a nuclear weapon, has made clear he intends to keep all options open, including military ones, in dealing with the provocative regime.

"We'll probably all be going over as a group sometime in November," he told reporters aboard Air Force One, when asked if he will be visiting China. "And we'll be doing Japan, South Korea, possibly Vietnam with a conference."

Vietnam is set to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that month.

In South Korea, the US leader is expected to meet with his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, to discuss a range of issues affecting the countries' alliance and trade ties.
 

On the security front, the Moon administration is facing growing calls for South Korea's own nuclear armament or the redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons to the country. Moon has so far ruled them out.

Last month, the two sides also kicked off talks on a possible amendment to the Korea-US free trade agreement, known as KORUS.

Trump has blamed the five-year-old pact for the growing US trade deficit with South Korea and recently threatened to pull out of it. Seoul insists the pact has been mutually beneficial, with the U.S consistently posting a surplus in the services trade.

Trump addressed the North Korea issue during his 15-minute talk with reporters en route from Florida to Washington.

He said the US and China are working on "different things" with regard to North Korea, but stopped short of elaborating.

"Believe me, the people of this country will be very, very safe," he said. "We're looking at what's going on. As we speak, we are literally at it right now, and you will be seeing what we'll be doing."

Trump has repeatedly urged China to use its leverage as North Korea's main ally and trading partner.

In the wake of Pyongyang's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, his administration pushed for an oil embargo on North Korea in negotiations with other UN Security Council members.

But in the face of resistance from Beijing and Moscow, the council on Monday agreed to restrictions on North Korea's oil imports and a ban on its textile exports.

Trump's Asia trip in November was expected to include a separate summit with Southeast Asian nations in the Philippines.

"He invited us. We're going to see," Trump said, an apparent reference to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. (Yonhap)