Former Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and pledged his efforts to further improve bilateral relations.

Suga held talks with Yoon at South Korea's presidential office in Seoul on Wednesday, after having lunch with the speaker of South Korea's National Assembly.

This is Suga's first visit to South Korea as head of the supra-partisan Japan-Korea Parliamentarians' Union. He assumed the post in March.

Suga and Yoon exchanged views on North Korea's failed launch of what it calls a satellite earlier in the day. They confirmed the importance of cooperation among Japan, South Korea and the United States in responding to the North.

Suga noted that Japan-South Korea relations are now on track to improve and pledged his own commitment to make them even better.

Suga also had a meeting with senior officials of the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians' Union, a nonpartisan group of lawmakers in South Korea. They agreed to promote communication between Japanese and South Korean lawmakers.

The ex-prime minister is scheduled to meet senior officials of a South Korean business body.

Suga wants to use his visit to promote exchanges between the countries in various fields and invite more South Korean travelers to Japan.