BANGKOK - The United States is expected to trumpet its comeback onto the Asian scene after years of neglect as a major security conference tackles the seemingly intractable issues of North Korea's nuclear threat and political repression in Myanmar.

Asia's "two devils" will hold center stage at the annual Asian Regional Forum that begins Wednesday amid hopes that a united front could be forged among enough of the 27 forum members to exert meaningful pressure on North Korea and Myanmar.

Terrorism may also feature, sparked by suicide bombings Friday at American-owned luxury hotels in Indonesia's capital Jakarta that left eight people dead and wounded more than 50 others. The bombings ended a four-year lull in attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

"The presence of Asian countries, especially China, may help the U.S. communicate its concern more effectively to North Korea. Even if there is no breakthrough, this is a good opportunity to have a discussion that goes beyond condemnation," says Chaiwat Khamchoo, an international relations expert at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

The United States, represented by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, will join foreign ministers of Asian nations, plus Russia and the European Union. North Korea is sending a lower-level official to the meeting on the Thai resort island of Phuket.

Security also looms as a concern at the conference itself and an anxious Thai government has dispatched some 10,000 security forces to Phuket to insure that the upcoming international conference is not disrupted.

An Asian summit in April at the Thai seaside resort of Pattaya was shut down when protesters seeking the ouster of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government overran the hotel where the meeting was taking place. Regional leaders and delegates fled the venue by helicopter and speedboat.

The 15-year-old forum is likely to see declarations of stepped-up U.S. involvement in Asia. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel recently told reporters in Washington that Clinton would stress how focused the U.S. administration is on improving its relationship with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ASEAN foreign ministers are holding a two-day meeting this weekend before the forum begins.

"We have started by reinvigorating our bedrock alliances, which did fray in recent years," she said in a recent speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. "We are both a trans-Atlantic and a trans-Pacific nation."

She cited strengthening bilateral relations with Japan, Korea, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as trans-Pacific institutions. She is in India prior to the Thailand conference.

The Thai hosts say Clinton will probably sign ASEAN's seminal Treaty of Amity and Cooperation to which more than a dozen countries outside the bloc have already acceded.

"The U.S.'s love for the region was lost during the Bush administration. But it is not the case now that President (Barack) Obama is in power. Therefore, more active engagement with the region is anticipated," says Pavin Chachavalpongpun a political scientist at Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state under President George W. Bush, skipped the forum twice in three years, and did not show up at several major ASEAN conferences.

Such renewed engagement, Pavin says, would not only prove useful as a strategy "against the two regional devils - Myanmar and North Korea - but would be good for the U.S. in the long run as it seeks to counter the growing military strength of China."

Marciel would not rule out the possibility of talks with the North Koreans at Phuket, "but at this point, there's nothing set." More likely, he said, would be bilateral meetings with China, South Korea, Russia and Japan - the other participants in stalled talks with Pyongyang aimed at ending its nuclear program.

Coming after a failed mission to Myanmar by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the conference is unlikely to budge the impoverished country's junta from pursuing the trial of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi or releasing some 2,100 other political prisoners.

But the region could move closer to a consensus on Myanmar, also known as Burma.

ASEAN, which includes Myanmar, has recently issued some sharp criticism in sharp contrast to its earlier soft-pedaling, and even China, Myanmar's closest ally, has backed the U.N.'s call for Suu Kyi's release.

The U.S. delegation at the forum may well seek counsel from Asian countries as the Obama administration pursues a review of its Myanmar policy which began in February.

Clinton and other top Obama officials have indicated that past U.S. Myanmar policy, grounded in tough economic sanctions, has not yielded results in easing the military's iron-fisted rule.

Irrespective of what is voiced at Phuket, Suu Kyi is likely to be found guilty for violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who entered her residence. The Noble Peace Prize laureate faces up to five years in prison.