HONOLULU — Try as he might to focus Asian and Pacific leaders on forging new economic partnerships during a regional summit here, President Obama has spent as much time in private meetings with his counterparts discussing another pressing concern: national security.

Among the key issues Obama raised in formal bilateral discussions were containing nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea, establishing clear maritime rights in the South China Sea and working out the future of U.S. military forces in Japan, senior White House officials said.

 

While several Republican presidential candidates criticized the president’s policy on containing Iran’s nuclear weapons program during a debate Saturday night, Obama was pressing the leaders of China and Russia on the importance of presenting a united front that “makes clear to Iran that this is unacceptable,” an Obama adviser said.