President Lee Jae Myung met with a Japanese lawmaker who heads a bilateral lawmakers’ union Friday and emphasized the importance of strengthening ties between the two countries amid international uncertainties. Lee held a meeting with Ryota Takeda, chair of the South Korea-Japan Parliamentarians’ union, a bipartisan lawmakers’ group promoting bilateral ties, at Cheong Wa Dae. “International relations are becoming increasingly complex,” Lee said during the meeting, adding, “At times like this, significantly improving South Korea-Japan relations would be beneficial to both countries.” The president said he hopes the two countries will greatly improve their ties and become “ever closer” neighbors. Exchanges between the two countries’ lawmakers are as important as those between their peoples and leaders, Lee noted, expressing hope for closer interaction between the two parliaments. Takeda referred to the “shuttle diplomacy” under which Lee and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi exchanged back-to-back reciprocal visits, calling it a “new role model.” The Japanese lawmaker also recalled a Ja
