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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (L) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ahead of their talks in the Japanese prefecture of Nara on Tuesday. (Yonhap)


NARA ? South Korea and Japan's leaders met Tuesday in Nara to “advance a future-oriented, stable relationshi 릴게임몰메가 p” through shuttle diplomacy involving reciprocal leader-level visits, while seeking progress in addressing historical disputes, Cheong Wa Dae said.
The setting evoked an earlier, more gener 야마토연타 ative chapter of cultural exchange between the two countries, still reflected in Nara’s ancient landmarks, even as deep-seated grievances from modern history continue to weigh on the relationship.
바다이야기슬롯President Lee Jae Myung said he hoped “Korea and Japan will move forward together toward a new shared future” despite challenges, working closely with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and with pub 바다신2게임 lic support.
“In this complex and unsettled international order, we must move toward a new and better situation, and that is why Korea-Japan cooperation is more important than ever,” Lee tol 바다이야기릴게임연타 d Takaichi.
Lee acknowledged that the bilateral relationship includes both “difficult and uncomfortable” elements, as well as more positive ones.
“In such circumstances, I believe we can make a better future a certainty by identifying and cultivating what is positive, carefully managing and minimizing what is uncomfortable or negative, and moving forward together hand in hand toward that better future,” Lee said.
Takaichi said she hoped to “make this year one in which Japan-Korea relations are elevated to a higher level, starting with President Lee’s visit to Japan,” adding that she looked forward to the discussions ahead.
“Just moments ago, President Lee and I were able to hold in-depth discussions based on a shared recognition of the strategic importance of Japan-Korea relations,” Takaichi said through an interpreter, referring to talks held ahead of the enlarged meeting.
“As I move forward with President Lee to advance Japan-Korea relations, I was once again reminded that our two countries must work together and play our part in ensuring regional stability,” she added.



President Lee Jae Myung speaks during his summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Japan's Nara on Tuesday. (Yonhap)



Agenda items for summit

Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday that the Lee-Takaichi summit aims to strengthen practical cooperation in the economy and people’s livelihoods, including people-to-people exchanges.
The meeting, held in Takaichi’s home prefecture and political base, also seeks to deepen coordination on North Korea policy and an expanding range of regional and global challenges.
The Lee-Takaichi summit, coming a week after Lee’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, takes place amid a volatile security landscape in Northeast Asia. This is compounded by escalating China-Japan tensions over Taiwan that are spilling beyond security into areas including supply chains.
Seoul and Tokyo hope to launch systematic consultations among relevant authorities to comprehensively strengthen cooperation in the economy and economic security.
On future technologies, the summit seeks to “deepen cooperation on artificial intelligence with a focus on producing concrete results.”
The leaders also aim to institutionalize bilateral cooperation to respond to transnational scam operations proliferating across Southeast Asia that target and harm South Korean and Japanese citizens.
Bong Wook, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, notably accompanied Lee on his trip to Japan ? an uncommon move for an official in that position.
Explaining the decision, a government source told The Korea Herald that the summit would serve as an opportunity for Seoul and Tokyo to discuss joint responses to transnational crimes such as scam operations, adding that Bong’s inclusion in the delegation reflects that objective.
On the history front, Cheong Wa Dae said the leaders aim to facilitate progress in addressing sensitive historical issues stemming from Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and the forced mobilization of Koreans from 1910 to 1945.
Seoul’s goal is to make the summit an opportunity for South Korea and Japan to “pursue humanitarian cooperation on historical issues, including those related to the Chosei coal mine,” Lee’s office said.
The Chosei coal mine disaster occurred on Feb. 3, 1942, when an undersea tunnel off Ube in Yamaguchi prefecture was flooded, killing 183 workers, including 136 forcibly mobilized Koreans. The Japanese government never recovered the victims’ remains or conducted a full investigation.



President Lee Jae Myung (left) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ahead of their summit talks in Japan's Nara on Tuesday. (Pool photo via Yonhap)



Locking in shuttle diplomacy

The meeting marked the leaders’ second in-person summit, held roughly 2 1/2 months after their first encounter on Oct. 30 on the sidelines of the 2025 APEC summit.
Lee’s first visit to Japan carried added weight as a test of whether Seoul and Tokyo can lock in shuttle diplomacy that has been repeatedly endorsed over the years, only to falter as bilateral relations waxed and waned.
Shuttle diplomacy was revived through reciprocal visits by South Korean and Japanese leaders in March and May 2023, after a 12-year hiatus.
Cheong Wa Dae underscored the symbolic significance of holding the summit in Nara, saying the visit was intended to “strengthen personal trust and bonds between Lee and Prime Minister Takaichi.”
The Lee-Takaichi summit, it added, also aims to “reaffirm a firm shared understanding between the two countries on the direction of development of Korea-Japan relations.”
Cheong Wa Dae noted that it is rare for a Japanese prime minister to invite a foreign leader to their own constituency.
Past examples of Japanese leaders hosting major diplomatic events in their home regions are limited, including former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2016 and former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s hosting of the G7 summit in Hiroshima in 2023.
Takaichi personally greeted Lee outside his lodging upon his arrival in Nara on Tuesday, offering a warm welcome as he visited her home prefecture. Cheong Wa Dae said the reception was upgraded from a hotel-hosted greeting originally planned to one led by Takaichi herself.
By convening in Nara, the two leaders implicitly invoked a shared past that predates the touchstones often dominating modern historical memory ? the Imjin War and Japan’s forced occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
“Nara Prefecture ? or the Nara region ? appears to have been a central hub of cultural exchange between the Korean Peninsula and Japan in ancient times,” Lee told Takaichi in his opening remarks.
“At a moment when exchange and cooperation between Korea and Japan are more important than ever, holding this meeting with the prime minister here in Nara carries special significance.”