South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will visit Japan for two days from Jan. 13 for a bilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, South Korea’s presidential office said on Friday.
Lee’s visit, made at the invitation of Takaichi, will take place in Nara Prefecture – the Japanese leader’s hometown – and marks the latest step in maintaining “shuttle diplomacy,” under which the leaders of the two countries regularly travel to each other’s capitals.
The two leaders are scheduled to hold a summit and working dinner on the afternoon of Jan. 13, shortly after Lee arrives in Nara. The meeting will be Lee’s fifth summit with a Japanese prime minister since taking office in June last year, and the second since Takaichi assumed office following the resignation of her predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba.
During a previous summit held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Gyeongju, Korea, late last October, Lee told Takaichi that, in keeping with the spirit of shuttle diplomacy, he hoped his next visit to Japan could take place in Nara, a proposal the Japanese leader welcomed.
According to the presidential office, the leaders will discuss a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues, as well as ways to deepen cooperation in areas directly affecting people’s livelihoods, including the economy, society and culture.
Regional security is expected to be central to the discussions amid rising tensions between China and Japan, including how Seoul and Tokyo can coordinate their responses to shared strategic challenges.
On the second day of his visit, Jan. 14, Lee will attend friendship events with Takaichi and hold a meeting with members of the Korean community in Japan before returning home.
The presidential office said the visit is expected to reinforce the momentum of shuttle diplomacy and help solidify a forward-looking and stable trajectory for South Korea-Japan relations.
AloJapan.com