Clinton's eight-day mission will take her to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China. The far East "was a logical choice for her to focus on," and "signals that the U.S. recognizes the growing importance of Asia," said Paul Stares, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

It also made sense, Stares said, because other senior Obama administration officials have already traveled to Europe, the Middle East and South Asia.

In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country where President Obama lived as a child, Clinton may lay the groundwork for a presidential visit later this year, Stares said. Visiting Jakarta is also "part of this attempt to reshape the United States' image in the Muslim world, said Rodger Baker, director of East Asian analysis at Texas-based Stratfor, an intelligence company.

In China, Japan and South Korea, Clinton will focus on the future of the "six-party" talks about North Korea's nuclear program, said Michael Green, a former senior director for Asian affairs in the Bush administration's National Security Council. Russia and North Korea round out the six nations in the talks.

"I think it's very important that she's on listening mode," said Green, who was among experts briefing Clinton at a Feb. 4 dinner.

Clinton will hear that Tokyo and Seoul, in particular, are still dismayed by what Green says was the Bush administration's "dramatic shift from a very hard-line policy" to a gentler approach, with little to show for it.

The governments of Japan and Korea "believe that we just don't think we can denuclearize North Korea and we'll be happy to contain the problem," he said. "That's a serious matter."

However, Clinton said during her Senate confirmation hearings that the Obama administration's goal was to "end the North Korean nuclear program" and "end North Korea as a proliferator."

"It is our strong belief that the six-party talks, particularly the role that China is currently playing, along with our close allies South Korea and Japan, is a vehicle for us to exert pressure on North Korea in a way that is more likely to alter their behavior," she told senators.

North Korea agreed two years ago to dismantle its nuclear weapons program in return for promises of aid, diplomatic ties with the United States and a formal peace agreement to end the 1950-1953 Korean War. But the deal has stalled as North Korea refused to let inspectors collect soil and nuclear waste samples needed to verify its compliance.

North Korea has also recently threatened to "wipe out" South Korea's government and repudiated a 17-year-old North-South non-aggression pact. Recent satellite images suggest North Korea is preparing for a ballistic missile test, Stratfor says.

Clinton this week cited "North Korea's attitude in the last weeks" and said her talks will help "determine the most effective way forward."