North Korea is a world problem that 'will be solved': Trump

President Trump said on Friday that North Korea was a "big problem" – but assured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before the G-7 summit that issues surrounding the hermit nation would be resolved.

"It is very much on our minds… It's a big problem, it's a world problem and it will be solved. At some point it will be solved. You can bet on that," Trump said alongside Abe, ahead of the summit in the Sicilian coastal city of Taormina, Italy.Trump said the men would discuss the situation with North Korea, which has repeatedly conducted missile tests, rattling its Pacific neighbors.Trump is spending two days at the G-7, the final stop on his maiden international trip.

His comments came just weeks after he called North Korea dictator Kim Jong-Un a "madman with nuclear weapons."He said the issue of the rogue regime will be discussed in joint meetings with the other six heads of leading industrialized countries, Agence France-Presse reported.

Pyongyang has launched several missiles this year, including a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range projectile this month that the regime claimed was capable of carrying a "heavy" nuclear warhead.

It carried out two atomic tests last year, insisting it needs nukes to defend itself against the threat of invasion.