South Korea and Japan agreed Friday to resume joint naval search and rescue exercises for the first time in nine years as they seek to strengthen defense cooperation, according to the defense ministry. The agreement came as Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and his counterpart, Shinjiro Koizumi, met at the Yokosuka base of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force to discuss regional security cooperation and ways to deepen the two nations' defense cooperation and exchange. "Both ministers concurred on