South Korean President Lee Jae Myung is in Tokyo to hold his first full summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in a visit largely aimed at showcasing friendly ties between the two Asian neighbours that now face common challenges from the US, their mutual ally.
Lee’s visit Saturday comes in an unusual order — putting Japan ahead of the United States — helping him to better prepare for his crucial first summit in Washington with US President Donald Trump, mainly on trade and defence issues, reports AP.
His Tokyo visit before Washington is well received by Japanese officials who see it as a sign Lee is placing great importance to relations between the two neighbours whose ties have been repeatedly disrupted by historical disputes, hampering their trilateral coordination with Washington.
For Ishiba, who faces pressure from rightwing rivals within his governing party to resign over its July election loss, Lee’s visit and a successful summit could shore up his support.
This occasion marks the second time Lee is meeting with Ishiba in-person, after their encounter on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada in June, says South Korean news agency Yonhap. Lee commented to Japanese newspapers that he hopes to strengthen cooperation between the two nations in the fields of security and economy.
“Korea-Japan relations simultaneously contain aspects of confrontation, cooperation and mutual tolerance. What’s important is to identify as many mutually beneficial elements as possible,” the South Korean leader said in the interview. “There is no need to abandon the beneficial aspects because of certain negative ones.”
Possible outcomes of the meeting include fast-track entry visas for South Korean travellers and working holiday programmes.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss mutual concerns including North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and China’s growing assertiveness in the region.
Ishiba, who met Trump in Washington in February and held talks with him at the June G7 summit, has settled a tariffs deal ahead of South Korea, enabling him to coordinate with Lee ahead of his summit in the US.
The summit comes just days after the two leaders signalled their conciliatory approach to each other.
In his August 15 address marking the liberation from Japan’s 1910-1945 colonisation of the Korean Peninsula, Lee called for the two sides to overcome grievances rooted in Japan’s brutal rule and develop future-oriented ties, though he urged Tokyo to face the issues that remain unresolved and strive to maintain trust.
Ishiba, who has acknowledged Japan’s wartime aggression and has shown empathy toward Asian victims, expressed “remorse” over the war which he called a mistake, restoring the word in a Japanese leader’s August 15 surrender anniversary address for the first time since its 2013 removal by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.