U.S. national security adviser John Bolton left for Japan and South Korea on Saturday, with a U.S. plan to form a multinational coalition to safeguard commercial shipping in the Middle East possibly on the agenda.
Bolton is traveling to the two Asian countries "to continue conversations with critical allies and friends," Garrett Marquis, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council said in a Twitter post.
The coalition plan, called the "Maritime Security Initiative," follows attacks on two oil tankers — one of them operated by a Japanese shipping firm — near the Strait of Hormuz last month. The United States has blamed Iran for the incidents.