Japan is mulling providing humanitarian aid to North Korea if it judges that the outcome of the North's probe into the abduction issue will lead to the return of abductees, a government source said Friday.

But the scale of the assistance is likely to be small in view of concerns harbored by the United States and South Korea over Pyongyang's missile and nuclear weapons programs, the source said.

Foodstuffs such as rice and pharmaceutical products will be provided through an international institution with a track record of monitoring the distribution of goods, in order to prevent North Korea from reselling them, the source said.