Japan and South Korea to cooperate on financial crisis

Fukuoka: Japan and South Korea agreed on Saturday to improve cooperation in tackling fallout from a global financial crisis.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak met in southern Japan ahead of a rare trilateral summit with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

"The two leaders agreed to closely cooperate in having follow-up efforts implemented to those made under the G20 financial summit meeting," the South Korean presidential office said in a statement after the two-way talks.

The summit among the leaders of the three North Asian countries follows the collapse of a bailout for US auto makers that sparked sell-offs in global stock markets.

On Friday, South Korea agreed new currency swap deals with Tokyo and Beijing worth the equivalent of nearly $50 billion to stabilise the economy.

Japan announced on Friday that it would expand its stimulus plans and bolster a war chest for bank rescues to $131 billion.