In a pivotal dialogue underscoring regional harmony, South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung met with influential Japanese figure Taro Aso in Seoul, advocating for enhanced bilateral partnerships that deliver tangible benefits to both nations. The Friday rendezvous builds momentum from Lee’s just-concluded Japan tour.
Lee painted a picture of proximity, remarking that South Korea and Japan ‘share one courtyard’ as neighbors, per reports from Yonhap. He pushed for proactive identification of cooperative domains to cultivate mutually advantageous relations – a vision he reinforced during summit-level talks with PM Sanae Takaichi earlier in the week.
Hosted in Nara during his second official Japan visit – and fifth leader-to-leader powwow post-June inauguration – the Nara meeting revisited October’s Gyeongju dialogue. Tuesday’s exchanges cemented a ‘shuttle diplomacy’ pact, promising reciprocal state visits to propel forward-looking joint efforts.
The timing of the Aso sit-down, right after the summit, reassures Koreans of accelerating Seoul-Tokyo rapprochement, Lee observed. Aso, in turn, stressed the summit’s significance amid evolving geopolitics surrounding the two allies. ‘Tight collaboration serves our mutual interests,’ he declared.
Wrapping up his January 14 return from Japan, Lee’s itinerary featured pledges on Korean Peninsula denuclearization and Northeast Asian multilateralism with China in the mix. Trade frictions, notably the marine import restrictions, were tabled alongside Seoul’s CPTPP ambitions, with consensus on expert-level negotiations to bridge gaps and unlock prosperity.
