President Lee Jae Myung walks with first woman Kim Hea Kyung after touchdown on the Osaka Kansai Airport in Japan, Tuesday. Yonhap
NARA — President Lee Jae Myung arrived in Japan on Tuesday for summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, with the 2 leaders anticipated to debate bilateral ties, in addition to regional and world points, amid tensions between Tokyo and Beijing.
Lee will keep in Nara Prefecture, Takaichi’s house prefecture, for 2 days as a part of reciprocal leader-level visits dubbed “shuttle diplomacy,” aimed toward sustaining the latest momentum in improved relations.
It can mark Lee’s second go to to Japan following his journey final August for talks with Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, and his third assembly with Takaichi since she took workplace in October.
Lee and Takaichi first held summit talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation discussion board in Gyeongju in late October and briefly met once more throughout the Group of 20 leaders’ gathering in South Africa in November.
The assembly comes days after Lee’s state go to to China for summit talks with President Xi Jinping, at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Tokyo following Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan.
In an interview with Japan’s NHK on Monday, Lee harassed that South Korea’s “relations with Japan are as vital as relations with China” and stated that their tensions over Taiwan usually are not a matter Seoul will “have interaction in or intervene in.”
South Korea’s ban on seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures can also be anticipated to be on the agenda as Tokyo has lengthy demanded that Seoul raise the restrictions imposed in 2013 over radiation considerations following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear catastrophe.
Within the interview, Lee stated easing the restrictions would take time till public considerations are alleviated however famous that the problem is a serious merchandise on Seoul’s diplomatic agenda because it seeks Tokyo’s help for its bid to affix the Complete and Progressive Settlement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
President Lee Jae Myung waves with first woman Kim Hea Kyung on his facet at Seongnam Airport earlier than heading to Nara Prefecture, Japan, Tuesday, for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Yonhap
North Korea can also be prone to be mentioned as each leaders have expressed curiosity in partaking Pyongyang.
Lee welcomed Takaichi’s expression of intent to carry talks with North Korean chief Kim Jong-un over the kidnapping subject, providing to play a task in facilitating dialogue between Tokyo and Pyongyang and even assist the 2 sides transfer towards establishing diplomatic ties.
Historic points are additionally anticipated to be on the agenda because the Lee administration pursues a “two-track” method of increasing future-oriented cooperation whereas persevering with to handle unresolved wartime historical past points from Japan’s 1910–45 colonial rule of Korea.
Nationwide Safety Adviser Wi Sung-lac voiced hope that the upcoming talks will assist advance cooperation in efforts to get well the stays of Korean pressured laborers from the Chosei undersea coal mine in Japan’s western Yamaguchi Prefecture, the place a flood in 1942 killed 136 Koreans.
On Wednesday, the 2 leaders are scheduled to attend diplomatic occasions collectively, together with a go to to Horyuji Temple, which homes the world’s oldest surviving wood constructions and is Japan’s first UNESCO World Heritage Website.
Lee can also be scheduled to fulfill with members of the Korean group in Japan earlier than returning house later within the day.
