President Lee to Visit Japan in Mid-December, Plans Summit with Prime Minister Takaichi in Her Hometown

China Visit Also Under Consideration

President Lee Jae-myung is considering a visit to Nara City, Nara Prefecture, the hometown of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in the middle of next month for a summit meeting.

President Lee Jae-myung is holding an informal brief meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the 23rd (local time) at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the Group of Twenty (G20) summit is being held. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the ruling party on December 8, diplomatic authorities of both countries are coordinating the schedule for President Lee to visit Japan for a two-day, one-night trip in the middle of next month.

Nara Prefecture is both the birthplace and electoral district of Prime Minister Takaichi. Previously, after holding a Korea-Japan summit with Prime Minister Takaichi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju on October 30, President Lee stated at a press conference, "In line with the spirit of shuttle diplomacy, I should visit Japan next, and I suggested to Prime Minister Takaichi that we go to Nara Prefecture if possible. She was very pleased with the idea."

Initially, the Japanese government had sought to hold a trilateral summit between Korea, China, and Japan in Japan next month. However, due to the deterioration of China-Japan relations following Prime Minister Takaichi's remarks implying intervention in the event of a Taiwan contingency, China refused to attend, resulting in the de facto cancellation of the summit.

If President Lee visits Japan this time, it will mark the fifth Korea-Japan summit since he took office.

President Lee and former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met for the first time at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada in June. Afterwards, President Lee visited Tokyo in August, and former Prime Minister Ishiba made a return visit to Busan in September.

Subsequently, Prime Minister Takaichi visited Korea for the APEC summit in October, during which both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continuing shuttle diplomacy.

Separately, there are also discussions underway for President Lee to visit China for a summit with President Xi Jinping.

This is seen as an effort to accelerate the restoration of Korea-China relations, which began to take shape during the Korea-China summit at the APEC summit last month, while also pursuing balanced diplomacy that encompasses both Japan and China.

However, it is reported that the visit to China may take place after the trip to Japan.

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