Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump affirmed Friday in Italy that pressure, not dialogue, is needed now in tackling the threat from North Korea.

The leaders agreed in their talks just ahead of the Group of Seven industrialized nations' summit in Taormina to work with all countries in pursuing North Korea's denuclearization, affirming that China, Pyongyang's primary diplomatic and economic benefactor, has an important role to play.

Their agreement comes after Trump told U.S. media in an interview earlier this month he would be "honored" to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "under the right circumstances."

But Abe has stressed that direct dialogue with North Korea should not be resumed while the country continues provocative actions including testing ballistic missiles, the latest of which was launched into the Sea of Japan on Sunday.

Trump told Abe that the issues surrounding the country, which continues to develop nuclear weapons alongside the missiles, are "a world problem and it will be solved at some point."

"It will be solved, you can bet on that," Trump said at the outset of the talks, the portion open to the press.

In their second face-to-face talks since Trump's inauguration in January, Abe and Trump shared an awareness that the level of threat from North Korea is on the rise, according to a Japanese official who sat in on the talks.

Scheduled to last 30 minutes, the meeting stretched to nearly an hour, concluding just minutes before the start of the G-7 welcoming ceremony. More than half of that time was spent discussing North Korea, the official said.

Abe and Trump confirmed that they will pursue further sanctions against North Korea and action in the U.N. Security Council, in cooperation with South Korea.

They also agreed to take concrete actions to raise the Japan-U.S. defense capacity in order to deter the threat from Pyongyang, although the official refrained from revealing details.

Abe told Trump that the U.S. deterrent capacity is important for stability in Southeast Asia as well, referring to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

That choice of phrase was a veiled reference to China, which has made sweeping territorial claims to much of the South China Sea, as well as uninhabited islets administered by Japan in the East China Sea.

Abe hailed Trump's plan to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and East Asia Summit in Southeast Asia this November, the official said.

Abe also told Trump that dialogue with Russia is important in tackling issues including North Korea and Syria, and the U.S. leader expressed agreement, the official said.

The leaders affirmed their resolve to work together in facing the threat from terrorism in the wake of a deadly suicide bombing in the British city of Manchester on Monday.

While Abe and "America First" proponent Trump found common ground on security, they eschewed mention of the aspects of trade policy on which they still clash.

They affirmed the importance of free and fair trade, but did not discuss trade between their countries, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal from which Trump pulled out in January, or the bilateral economic dialogue Tokyo and Washington set up in the wake of its TPP withdrawal, the Japanese official said.

At the start of that dialogue last month, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence hinted the framework could one day lead to formal negotiations toward a bilateral trade deal.

While Trump has vowed to pursue two-way deals, Abe appears wary of a Japan-U.S. pact, in which Washington could drive a harder bargain than it did in the TPP negotiations.

According to the official, Abe also used the meeting to invite Trump to visit Japan at an early date.