Not before visiting Japan first though:

Japan on Friday welcomed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s decision to visit from Feb. 16 to 18, the first stop on her maiden trip overseas as the top U.S. diplomat.

Clinton’s visit will also take her to Indonesia, South Korea and China.

“Japan being the first stop reflects the importance (President Barack Obama’s administration) places on the Japan-U.S. alliance and carries great significance,” Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said at a morning news conference.

In addition to holding talks with Nakasone, Clinton will meet Prime Minister Taro Aso.

Nakasone said he expects to discuss several issues with Clinton, including the financial crisis, the North Korean nuclear issue, Pyongyang’s decades-old abductions of Japanese nationals, climate change and global security.  [Kyodo News]

It is good that she is visiting Japan so soon because she has much work to do to repair relations with Japan after the Bush administration sellout of the Japanese by delisting North Korea from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List without Pyongyang first coming clean on the Japanese citizens they have kidnapped over the years.