The United States has sent a guided-missile destroyer to Japan in the wake of North Korea's testing of seven missiles over the Sea of Japan earlier this week.
Reports say the destroyer has a missile-tracking system. It arrived at Japan's Yokosuka military base Saturday.
Meanwhile, top U.S. envoy on North Korea, Christopher Hill, says he supports a Chinese proposal for informal six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
He also said Saturday during his visit to South Korea that the U.S. is willing to meet bilaterally with North Korea on the sidelines of those talks.
Hill is on a tour of nations involved in the stalled six-party negotiations to coordinate a response to North Korea's testing of seven missiles last Wednesday.
Hill again Saturday rejected a North Korean demand that Washington lift financial sanctions against Pyongyang before resuming nuclear negotiations.
He met earlier with his South Korean counterpart, Chun Yung-Woo, who said the missile launches should be treated as an opportunity to restart the talks.
On Friday, diplomats at the United Nations said there will be no Security Council vote on a binding resolution authorizing sanctions against North Korea until at least Monday.
The United States, Japan, Britain and France presented the draft resolution in response to Pyongyang's missile tests.
The resolution calls on member states to prevent the transfer to North Korea of any type of material that could be used in missiles or weapons of mass destruction. It also instructs North Korea to immediately stop developing, deploying and testing ballistic missiles, and to return to six-party negotiations on its nuclear program.
Security Council veto-holders China and Russia had pushed for milder wording in the document. But U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said sentiment among Council members for the stronger resolution was overwhelming.
President Bush said Friday he wants a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but recognizes that arriving at a common goal and message can be a slow and cumbersome process.
