WASHINGTON -- A senior State Department official in charge of Asian affairs will travel to the Philippines and China next week, the department announced Thursday.

Acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton will visit Manila on May 23-24 for a senior officials' meeting of the East Asia Summit and other sessions hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN, the department said in a statement.

Thornton will then travel to Beijing on May 25-26 to discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest with Chinese officials, the statement said. The statement didn't elaborate, but North Korea is expected to be a topic for her discussions with Chinese officials. (Yonhap)