Japan, S. Korea to resume search-and-rescue drill after about 9 years

SINGAPORE - Japan and South Korea will resume a joint search-and-rescue exercise next month for the first time in about nine years, reflecting improving ties between the two nations after years of strained diplomatic and defense relations.

South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu Back said Saturday at the start of talks with his Japanese counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, in Singapore, that the humanitarian exercise involving the South Korean Navy and Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force will be held on June 7.