Japan is determined to settle the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea through direct talks with the North's leader, as U.S. President Donald Trump raised it during the U.S.-North Korea summit on Tuesday.

"I'm determined that Japan will have to directly face North Korea and resolve (the abduction issue) bilaterally," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters after Trump said he raised the issue during his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stressed Japan's commitment to resolving the issue.

"We have not changed our determination to settle (the abduction issue) by directly negotiating with North Korea," Suga said at a press conference.

Tokyo has long sought the return of Japanese kidnapped by Pyongyang in the 1970s and 1980s. After his talks with Trump on Thursday in Washington, Abe expressed his willingness to meet with Kim to seek an early resolution.

Abe hailed the agreement between Trump and Kim on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, saying it will be "a step toward the comprehensive resolution of various issues" concerning North Korea.

"North Korea has rich (natural) resources and a diligent workforce. It will have a bright future if it treads the right path," the prime minister also said in a press conference earlier in the day after a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

(PM Abe, right, and families of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea)

Abe is likely to hold phone talks with Trump later Tuesday to be briefed on the outcome of the summit that focused on North Korea's denuclearization.

Foreign Minister Taro Kono told reporters in the morning, "The focus is on whether North Korea will show its clear engagement in efforts toward abandoning all weapons of mass destruction and missiles of all ranges."

As North Korea's nuclear and missile development poses a security threat to Japan, the Abe administration has stressed the need to beef up the country's defense capabilities in recent years.

"Even if a certain promise is made at the summit, we should be careful about lowering our guard until we can confirm that specific steps have been taken," Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said.

Tokyo sought to coordinate policy toward Pyongyang with Washington, its key ally, ahead of the Singapore meeting and U.S. President Donald Trump promised to raise the long-standing issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea.

Kono said the abduction issue is something that Japan and North Korea will eventually have to deal with by themselves.

Kono plans to visit South Korea from Wednesday for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is accompanying Trump to Singapore, and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung Wha.