Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says that Japan is willing to extend economic cooperation to North Korea if the issues of Japanese abductees and the North's nuclear weapons and missiles are resolved.

Japan's Kyodo News reported that Abe made the remarks on Saturday in a press conference in Charlevoix, Quebec.

Abe, who is visiting Canada for the G7 summit, said that Japan is willing to normalize diplomatic relations based on a 2002 bilateral declaration and extend economic cooperation to North Korea if the issues of Japanese abductees and the North's nuclear weapons and missiles are resolved.

He said that if North Korea and Japan hold a summit, it should lead to the resolution of the issues.

Regarding the abduction issue, Abe stressed that Tokyo is determined to resolve it by directly discussing the matter with Pyongyang.

[Photo : YONHAP News]