South Korean president visits Japan on ties

TOKYO - South Korean President Lee Jae-myung visited Japan and held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday, Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported.

The two leaders agreed to steadily advance bilateral relations, including strengthening strategic communication in the field of security, expanding cooperation in emerging sectors such as hydrogen energy and artificial intelligence, and creating an intergovernmental framework to discuss common challenges such as regional revitalization, aging populations, and disaster prevention.

They also pledged to broaden the working holiday visa program to promote people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

This marks Lee's first visit to Japan since taking office as South Korean president in June. He is scheduled to leave Japan for the United States on Sunday, where he will meet with US President Donald Trump.