Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's public relations adviser will visit the United States later this month in an apparent bid to improve his administration's image in the American media.

Upper House member Hiroshige Seko will visit Washington and New York to explain Abe's "basic policies" to editorial writers at major U.S. newspapers, including The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the government said Wednesday.

The Feb. 19-24 trip comes ahead of Abe's reported plan to make his first visit to the U.S. as prime minister for talks with President George W. Bush during the Golden Week holiday from late April to early May.