Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Wednesday he is willing to hold direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to break a deadlock over the abduction issue.

"I have to meet face-to-face with Chairman Kim Jong Un to resolve this issue," Abe said at the outset of a meeting with the abductees' family members.

The meeting comes a week after U.S. President Donald Trump took up the topic during the second U.S.-North Korean summit in Hanoi, relaying Japan's stance on the issue to Kim at Abe's request. Trump also raised the issue with Kim in their first summit, last June in Singapore.