S.Korea’s Lee to visit Japan next week for talks with Ishiba, resumes shuttle diplomacy

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will travel to Japan next week for talks with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, resuming the so-called shuttle diplomacy shunned by the closest neighbors’ previous governments.

Lee will arrive in Tokyo on Aug. 23 and hold a summit meeting with Ishiba the same day, Seoul’s presidential spokeswoman Kang Yu-jung said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

The visit – the first stop on a broader overseas tour that will also take the South Korean leader to the US – underscores Lee’s intent to prioritize relations with Japan despite lingering historical grievances.

The Lee-Ishiba summit follows years of strained relations over wartime history and trade disputes.

Korean officials signaled that Lee would seek to keep references to contentious past issues to a minimum, focusing instead on forward-looking cooperation in areas such as technology, supply chains and regional security.

Lee, a left-leaning leader, has vowed to pursue pragmatic diplomacy since he took office in early June.

SECOND FACE-TO-FACE MEETING

Soon after Lee’s inauguration as Korean president the two leaders had a phone conversation, during which they agreed to address geopolitical crises through three-way cooperation with Washington.

In mid-June, the two held their first face-to-face summit as national leaders in the Canadian resort town of Kananaskis near Calgary on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit.

A symbolic, but significant, takeaway from the Seoul-Tokyo summit was the reaffirmation of shuttle diplomacy – regular reciprocal visits by the two nations' leaders.

At the Canada summit, the two leaders agreed to continue developing the three-way alliance with the US, particularly on deterrence and response mechanisms related to North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats.

Lee’s outreach to Ishiba is seen by analysts as part of a broader strategic realignment aiming to ensure that Seoul remains central in shaping Indo-Pacific security architecture, even as the US-China rivalry intensifies and Pyongyang accelerates its weapons development.

South Korea and Japan are among those exporters set to be most affected by Trump's steep trade tariffs on vehicles, auto parts, steel and aluminum, as well as country-specific tariffs.

TOKYO TRIP BEFORE SUMMIT WITH TRUMP IN WASHINGTON

Analysts said Lee’s decision to stop in Tokyo before travelling to Washington, D.C., is signaling a deliberate message about the importance his administration places on strengthening ties with Tokyo.

“It’s a sequencing that shows Seoul views Tokyo not just as a partner in US-led regional security, but as a bilateral relationship worth investing in on its own terms,” said a Seoul-based diplomat.

Seoul’s Office of the President said on Tuesday Lee will have his first face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump on Aug. 25 in Washington to discuss a broad agenda that includes regional security, defense spending and economic cooperation.

Lee’s US trip is an official visit, not a state visit, with the focus on in-depth discussions of key pending issues.

A delegation of South Korean business leaders, including Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Co. Chairman Chung Euisun and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, will accompany him to Washington.

Write to In-Soo Nam at isnam@hankyung.com

Jennifer Nicholson-Breen edited this article.