Korea and Japan are coordinating a visit by outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to a southern Korean city next week for talks with President Lee Jae Myung, a Seoul official said Thursday.
“We are discussing with the Japanese side plans for Prime Minister Ishiba’s visit at the end of September,” the official said, adding that more details will be made public once finalized.
Ishiba is expected to make a two-day trip to the southern port city of Busan, starting Tuesday.
If confirmed, it will be a reciprocal visit after Lee’s stop in Japan last month before heading to the United States for summit talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Since taking office in June, Lee has pledged to maintain the thaw in ties and work closely with Tokyo to advance not only bilateral relations but also trilateral cooperation with Washington, while firmly addressing longstanding historical issues stemming from Japan’s 1910-35 colonial rule of Korea.
Lee broke the precedents by choosing to visit Japan before the U.S. in his first overseas trip as president, in an apparent move to demonstrate his commitment to aligning with the two countries.
The envisioned visit is expected to be the last trip for Ishiba as prime minister. Ishiba announced his resignation earlier this month following the ruling party’s crushing election defeats both in the lower house last October and the upper house in July this year.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is set to elect a new leader Oct. 4.
AloJapan.com