Japanese Media: Korea and Japan Coordinating Summit in Nara City in Mid-January

Kyodo News reported on December 4 that President Lee Jaemyung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are coordinating plans to hold a summit in Nara City, Nara Prefecture, Japan, in mid-January next year.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to diplomatic sources, the Japanese government initially planned to host a trilateral summit with China and South Korea in Japan in January next year and sounded out both countries. However, after Prime Minister Takaichi made remarks suggesting possible involvement in the event of a Taiwan contingency, tensions flared between China and Japan, leading China to reject the proposal. As a result, Japan changed its plan to hold a bilateral summit with South Korea instead.

Previously, the two leaders met on October 30 in Gyeongju on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit and reaffirmed their commitment to continuing shuttle diplomacy.

At that time, President Lee stated, "According to the order of shuttle diplomacy, it is now Korea's turn to visit Japan," and proposed, "I hope to meet not in the capital Tokyo, but in a regional city."

Prime Minister Takaichi responded, "I look forward to meeting President Lee soon," and told reporters, "We have agreed to actively pursue shuttle diplomacy, and this time, we will welcome President Lee in Japan."

After the Gyeongju APEC summit, President Lee said at a joint press conference with domestic and foreign media on November 1, "In the spirit of shuttle diplomacy, I should visit Japan, and if possible, I suggested going to Nara Prefecture. Prime Minister Takaichi was very pleased with this idea."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.