Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Canadian counterpart, Stephen Harper, held their first meeting and pressured North Korea amid international concerns that the Stalinist state may test-fire a long-range missile.

"I told Prime Minister (Koizumi) that Canada shares his country's concerns about Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs," Harper told a press conference after the summit talks.

"It is our view that Pyongyang's stance on this issue, particularly those related to arms control and proliferation of nuclear weapons, poses a very real threat to international peace and stability," he said.

"So Canada will continue to support Japan and other allies. We are standing firm in the face of provocative acts by North Korea," Harper said.

US and Asian officials have said North Korea has prepared a Taepodong-2 missile for launch, amid a parallel standoff over the communist state's nuclear program.

North Korea has boycotted talks since November with five other nations, including the United States, over its nuclear weapons program.

Along with the missile issue, Japan also hopes to resolve a row with Pyongyang over the abductions of Japanese citizens by North Korean agents in a bid to train its spies, Koizumi told Harper during their summit talks, according to a Japanese official who attended the meeting.

Koizumi has actively used diplomatic meetings to solicit support from other leaders to put pressure on North Korea.

"The abduction issue, nuclear issue, missiles issue, ... I want resolutions to all these issues before (Japan and North Korea) normalize our ties," Koizumi told Harper, according to the official.

"I call on North Korea to use self-restraint over the missile problem," said Koizumi, who has visited Pyongyang twice during his term and had direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.

Koizumi, who will fly to Washington later Wednesday, is likely to reiterate his concerns about North Korea in his meeting with US President George W. Bush, scheduled for Thursday.

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