Japan will push for free trade as a country that has enjoyed the benefits of the postwar years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday, amid rising trade tension between the world's economic powers.

In his address at the United Nations, Abe also expressed his determination to meet face to face with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to end years of bilateral distrust and make a "new start." In a change from his address to the assembly a year ago, he did not mention the need to apply pressure on Pyongyang.

"In the three years to come, I will do my very best to strengthen the free trade system," Abe told the General Assembly. "Japan has now taken on the mission of imparting to the world the benefits of trade."