In this Nov 30, 2018 photo, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks with US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the sidelines of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Buenos Aires. Japan’s Asahi newspaper has reported that Abe nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize last autumn after receiving a US government request for doing so. (SAUL LOEB / AFP)

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize last autumn after receiving a request from the US government to do so, the Asahi newspaper reported on Sunday.

Donald Trump told journalists that the Japanese leader had given him "the most beautiful copy" of a five-page nomination letter

The report follows Trump's claim on Friday that Abe had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize for opening talks and easing tensions with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). 

The Japanese leader had given him "the most beautiful copy" of a five-page nomination letter, Trump said at a White House news conference. 

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The US government had sounded Abe out over the Noble Peace Prize nomination after Trump's summit in June last year with DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, the first meeting between a DPRK leader and a sitting US president, the Asahi said, citing an unnamed Japanese government source. 

A spokesman for Japan's Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said the ministry was aware of Trump's remarks, but "would refrain from commenting on the interaction between the two leaders." 

The White House had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. 

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The Nobel Foundation's website says a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize may be submitted by any person who meets the nomination criteria, which includes current heads of states. Under the foundation's rules, names and other information about unsuccessful nominations cannot be disclosed for 50 years.