TOKYO (REUTERS) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Friday (April 27) Japan welcomed the summit between the leaders of North and South Korea as a positive step and he strongly expected Pyongyang to take concrete steps towards to carry out its promises.

Japan would stay in close contact with the United States and South Korea over North Korea, Abe said, adding that Japan was"absolutely not" being left out of the denuclearisation process.

The North and South Korean leaders said they would pursue trilateral meetings with the United States and that meetings involving the two Koreas, the United States and China were also possible.