Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has left for the United States for a trilateral summit with the US and South Korean leaders.

Kishida left Tokyo's Haneda Airport on a government plane on Thursday.

Kishida will hold talks on Friday with US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at the Camp David presidential retreat near Washington.

Kishida told reporters before his departure that it is very meaningful for the top leaders of the three countries to come together, as the security environment surrounding Japan is becoming increasingly severe.

He said the talks will be an historic opportunity to strengthen strategic cooperation among the three countries based on their bilateral relations with each other, which are stronger than ever.

On the abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea, Kishida said this is a humanitarian issue with a time constraint. He said he intends to make the utmost efforts to bring all the abductees back to Japan as soon as possible, while obtaining stronger understanding and cooperation from the US and South Korea.

Kishida is also scheduled to hold separate talks with the US and South Korean presidents. He added that he is looking forward to speaking frankly with Biden and Yoon.

The Camp David meeting will be the first trilateral summit that will not be held on the sidelines of an international conference.

The three leaders are expected to reaffirm their shared stance of stressing the importance of the rule of law and not allowing attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force, as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.

They also plan to discuss and strengthen security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region with North Korean and Chinese moves in mind. The cooperation would call for joint drills by the three countries' forces and the activation of a real-time data-sharing mechanism for missile launches by North Korea.

The three leaders also expected to reach agreement on reinforcing supply chains, including those for semiconductors, and cooperation in the fields of such advanced technologies as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

The leaders are expected to agree to hold regular three-way summits, as well as talks between their foreign and defense ministers to raise the level of the trilateral relationship.

Officials are working to issue a joint statement about the achievements of the summit after the meeting.

In his bilateral meetings with US and South Korean leaders, Kishida is expected to explain and seek understanding for Japan's plan to release treated and diluted water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.