With US foreign policy in flux, Japan and South Korea are finding common ground on trade, defense, and demographic challenges.

Barely two months into office, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung faces a pivotal foreign policy test, heading into back-to-back summits in Tokyo and Washington that reflect the wider struggle of U.

South Korea will end some military activities along its border with North Korea, President Lee Jae Myung said on Friday, in his government's latest effort to improve ties between the neighbours still technically at war.