New York - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met Monday with foreign ministers from Japan, South Korea and Australia to weigh action on North Korea's nuclear programme and Tokyo's call for a major shake-up in the US-Japanese relationship.

The meetings came on the opening day of a week of major diplomacy in New York as world leaders gather for the annual opening of the United Nations General Assembly. US President Barack Obama arrived late Monday for what will be his first visit to United Nations headquarters since taking office in January.

Clinton and South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan noted progress in bringing sanctions to bear on North Korea for its ongoing nuclear activities. Countries have begun inspecting North Korean ships suspected of carrying nuclear material - as called for in a UN resolution earlier this year.

Clinton and Yu agreed that they "were starting to see effective coordination, not just among a few of the Asian states but in the Middle East and elsewhere," Kurt Campbell, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters.

"Several states ... have unilaterally chosen to either inspect cargoes or turn ships back to port in North Korea."

Clinton later held a three-way meeting with Japan's new Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, designed to "enhance coordination and cooperation" in the region, according to a brief statement following the talks.

Obama is set to hold talks Wednesday with new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose long-time opposition party was swept to power in an election last month. Hatoyama has said he wants to renegotiate parts of the long-standing Japanese alliance with the United States.

US officials played down any potential rift. Campbell said the United States was open to "listen to how they want to undertake a major review of various aspects of our alliance relations." (dpa)