Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Friday that he briefly spoke with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong Ho in Singapore in an apparent attempt to pressure Pyongyang on the abduction issue.

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is willing to hold direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Kono has been "urged" to make contact with Ri on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' gatherings in the city, a government source said.

In the wake of the historic summit between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in June in the city-state, Abe has been exploring the possibility of a summit with Kim.