Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung held their fourth meeting in about six months on May 19, 2020, reflecting their ongoing efforts to strengthen relations between historical Asian rivals despite geopolitical challenges. The summit took place in Andong, a city known for its traditional folk village, marking the first time sitting leaders have visited each other's hometowns. The official agenda includes economic, energy, and bilateral ties development, with no current sticking points. Analysts believe the relationship will likely remain on a positive trajectory, as both leaders hope to deepen mutual trust and foster co-operation under severe geopolitical conditions.
Japan ese prime minister travels to meet South Korea president for second leg of hometown summits Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Kore's President Lee Jae-myung react during their meeting in Andong, South Korea on Tuesday .
SEOUL — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held their fourth meeting in about six months on Tuesday , underscoring their push to deepen ties between the historical Asian rivals in the face of geopolitical challenges. Lee hosted Takaichi in his hometown of Andong, a southeastern South Korean city famous for a centuries-old traditional folk village that is a Unesco World Heritage site.
In January, the two met in Takaichi's hometown of Nara, an ancient Japanese capital. The meetings marked the first time sitting leaders of the two countries have visited each other's hometowns. South Korea's presidential office expressed hope that Tuesday's summit would strengthen mutual trust between Lee and Takaichi. Takaichi told reporters earlier Tuesday she hopes the talks will deepen co-operation "under the severe geopolitical conditions such as situations in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific".
The summit's official agenda includes economic and energy co-operation, the Iran war and development of their bilateral ties, which have no current sticking points. Experts say the meeting likely will proceed smoothly and the relationship will remain on a positive trajectory for now.
"The two countries put more emphasis on agenda for co-operation than contentious issues," said Choi Eunmi, a Japan expert at the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies. "They would now think scenes of constantly fluctuating relationship or eventually negative bilateral ties won't be helpful to anyone now. "But their relationship has long experienced severe ups and downs over grievances stemming from Japan's 35-year colonisation of the Korean Peninsula before the end of World War II.
Relations began improving in 2023 when Lee and Takaichi's predecessors took steps to move beyond history disputes and strengthen co-operation, saying they faced common challenges like the US-China strategic competition, supply chain vulnerabilities and North Korea's advancing nuclear arsenal. When Lee and Takaichi each took office as new leaders last year, observers worried about Takaichi's reputation as a right-wing security hawk and anticipation that Lee, a political liberal, would tilt toward North Korea and China and away from the US and Japan.
In August, two months before Takaichi's inauguration, Lee became the first South Korean leader to choose Japan as his first destination for a bilateral summit. At the end of their meeting in January, Lee and Takaichi drummed to K-pop hits such as BTS' Dynamite in a jam session arranged by the Japanese leader, a heavy metal fan who was a drummer in her college days.
Lee has said he and Takaichi share a view that national leaders must act differently than ordinary politicians. But many observers say the two leaders also likely feel the need to tighten co-operation because they have more grave geopolitical difficulties than their predecessors such as US President Donald Trump's America-first policy and global economic damage caused by the Iran war.
Trump's tariff war and his transactional approach to security threaten the trust in the US held by many South Korean and Japanese. Ties between Seoul and Tokyo are so delicate they could suffer unexpected setbacks if they fail to formulate coping measures for explosive issues such as Japan's colonial-era mobilisation of Koreans as forced laborers and sex slaves, according to experts, who say wrangling over those issues has eased as the two governments try to avoid public discussions.
"Both countries aren't talking about how to resolve and prevent recurrences of conflicts over those issues and we don't know when they could occur again," Choi said.
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