TOKYO — Japan said Friday it would continue to work with the U.S. and South Korea to pressure North Korea after President Donald Trump canceled his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“What is important is not the holding of a U.S.-North Korea summit meeting per se but making such a meeting into an opportunity for progress on the nuclear and missile issues and above all the abductee issue,” a foreign ministry statement said. Japan has demanded the return of citizens it says were abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.

“We will continue to collaborate closely with the U.S. and South Korea to make North Korea change its policies,” the statement said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is currently in Russia and is likely to address the North Korea issue during his stay there. Abe will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

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Japan says it will keep pressure on North Korea

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