South Korea, Japan leaders agree to boost ties

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's newly-elected President Lee Jae-myung and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed during a telephone call to strengthen bilateral ties, a South Korean presidential spokesperson and Japan's foreign ministry said on Monday.

The call comes after the two leaders said they aimed for their countries to continue coordination on North Korea issues.

Lee, a left-leaning leader who was elected last week, has said pragmatism was key to his diplomacy and he would continue with security cooperation between South Korea, Japan and the United States.

Lee told Ishiba that he wanted to deal with geopolitical crises within the framework of three-way cooperation with Tokyo and Washington, Kang Yoo-jung, Lee's spokesperson, told reporters.

Reaffirming the significance of bilateral ties, the two leaders agreed to meet in person to further develop relations, Kang added.

Ishiba told Lee that he wished to further advance bilateral relations "through mutual efforts based on the foundation built by both governments so far", according to a statement from Japan's foreign ministry.

The call lasted for about 25 minutes, the ministry said.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park in Seoul; Additional reporting by Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Jamie Freed and Kate Mayberry)