Bernard Kouchner will also touch on the risk of nuclear proliferation by North Korea during visits to Tokyo and Seoul, they said.

Kouchner and Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will "work together on responding to the world's big challenges such as ... nuclear proliferation," foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters.

France, the United States and others are stepping up efforts to rally support for fresh United Nations sanctions on Iran, which key world powers suspect is trying to make a nuclear weapon.

The Islamic Republic insists its uranium-enrichment activities are aimed at generating power for civilian use.

"There are complex discussions on Iran ... we are going to work on them" as Japan prepares to take over the presidency of the UN Security Council in April, a senior diplomatic source said.

Kouchner's trip will also be "a chance to talk with the Japanese government about their vision ... of the current situation in North Korea."

North Korea alarmed world powers last year by test-firing a series of missiles after walking out of disarmament talks with world powers, including the United States, Japan and South Korea.

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