U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will visit Japan and South Korea next week to speak with officials about security issues, including Washington's new defense cooperation guidelines with Tokyo, the Pentagon said.

The visit will be his first to the two close U.S. allies in East Asia since he took office in February, Pentagon officials said Friday.

Carter will arrive in Japan on Tuesday for a three-day stay during which he will meet with senior government officials. They will discuss progress on the review of the Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation, which have not been revised since 1997, among other issues.