Seoul - US President Barack Obama arrived on Wednesday in South Korea, the last leg of his Asia trip, with attempts to persuade North Korea to return to international nuclear disarmament talks expected to dominate discussions with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung Bak.

Further topics in the meetings scheduled for Thursday are the security alliance between Washington and Seoul and the planned ratification of a free-trade pact. Obama is due to leave for Washington the same day.

On Wednesday, Obama ended his three-day visit to China, where he said the US and China wanted to expand their "strategic partnership." Earlier stops on the US president's first trip to Asia had been Japan and Singapore, where Obama took part in the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. (dpa)