Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Tokyo on Saturday to confirm their shared policy on North Korea before Pompeo travels to Pyongyang on Sunday for denuclearization talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"We would like to coordinate our policies toward North Korea's abduction, nuclear and missile issues," Abe said at the outset of the meeting with Pompeo at his office. Abe was expected to call for maintaining U.N. sanctions on North Korea until it denuclearizes.

Pompeo responded by stressing the need for "a fully coordinated, unified view" to realize the denuclearization of North Korea, while adding that he will bring up the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the North in the 1970s and 1980s when meeting with Kim on Sunday.