Tokyo ? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today pressed Japan to end a costly boycott on U.S. beef, saying “American beef is safe.”

She also offered support for Japanese membership in the U.N. Security Council as she prepared to visit South Korea, trying to take a less confrontational approach to persuading North Korea to return to international nuclear disarmament talks.

North Korea complained that Rice unfairly labeled the country an “outpost of tyranny” earlier this year, and demanded an apology. Rice aims to stay out of rhetorical arguments that North Korea can use as an excuse for delay, according to officials accompanying her on a weeklong Asian trip.

Her speech at Tokyo’s Sophia University was intended as a statement of U.S. foreign policy goals in Asia and commitment to spread democratic principles, even in communist China, officials said.

Rice told the Japanese their ban on U.S. beef flouts scientific agreement on beef safety and endangers broader trade that both nations value.

The Japanese ban, in response to a 2003 discovery of a cow infected with mad cow disease in the United States, has become the most visible blemish on what has otherwise been an increasingly good relationship between Tokyo and Washington.

Tensions have grown in recent weeks with rising U.S. calls for quick action to resume the imports. Before the ban, Japan was American beef’s most lucrative overseas market.

As for North Korea, Rice indicated before today’s speech that the next move in a standoff over nuclear weapons would be up to the Pyongyang government, and she played down expectations that her visit to Asian capitals will produce a breakthrough.