President Lee Jae Myung said Friday that Seoul and Tokyo have to seek mutually beneficial relations by improving bilateral ties. In a meeting with former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Lee said South Korea and Japan are neighbors using a front yard together. "It is desirable to find out as many areas as possible where the two countries cooperate, so as to create a mutually beneficial relationship" Lee said. Lee's meeting with the former Japanese prime minister came as he took a trip to Japan earlier this week for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on ways to broaden and deepen bilateral cooperation amid tensions between Beijing and Tokyo. The president met Takaichi in her hometown of Nara, marking his second visit to Japan and his fifth summit with a Japanese prime minister since taking office in June last year. It was their second summit following their first meeting in South Korea's Gyeongju in late October. During Tuesday's talks, the two leaders agreed to advance "future-oriented cooperation" through reciprocal leader-level visits, dubbed "shuttle diplomacy." Lee said