Lee calls for deeper regional cooperation at summit with Takaichi in ancient Japanese capital of Nara

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Lee calls for deeper regional cooperation at summit with Takaichi in ancient Japanese capital of Nara

Published: 13 Jan. 2026, 19:09 Updated: 13 Jan. 2026, 19:23

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, left, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the start of their meeting in Nara, western Japan, on Jan. 13. [AP/YONHAP]

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Tuesday that he had urged closer trilateral cooperation among Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing during a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the ancient city of Nara in western Japan.

Lee arrived in Japan for a two-day visit from Jan. 13 to14 as part of reciprocal leader-level exchanges between the two countries, known as “shuttle diplomacy,” aimed at sustaining momentum in bilateral ties.

In a joint statement released after their meeting, Lee said “deepening and expanding cooperation between Korea and Japan is no longer a task that can be delayed” amid “unprecedented global turmoil” and technological shifts driven by AI.

Lee said he “emphasized the need for Korea, Japan and China to identify as much common ground as possible in order to communicate and cooperate.”

Regional tensions have been fueled in part by Takaichi’s remarks suggesting Japan could intervene militarily in a Taiwan contingency, comments that drew sharp criticism from Beijing.

Lee’s meeting with Takaichi came less than a week after he held talks in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping, underscoring Seoul’s increasingly delicate diplomatic balancing act.

The South Korean president said Seoul and Tokyo “must move beyond trade-centered cooperation” toward “more comprehensive collaboration in economic security, technology and the shaping of international norms,” even as they continue to grapple with historical grievances rooted in Japan’s 1910-45 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

The two sides agreed at the summit to cooperate on efforts to recover remains from the Chosei undersea coal mine in western Japan, where flooding in 1942 killed 183 workers, including 136 Koreans who had been subjected to forced labor.

It was the second summit between Lee and Takaichi since she took office, following their first encounter in October on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum hosted by South Korea in Gyeongju, a former capital of the Silla kingdom (57 B.C. to A.D. 935).

Noting that Seoul and Tokyo normalized relations in 1965, Lee said the two countries had built a mutually beneficial partnership over the past six decades. He said the two sides should expand cooperation while carefully managing points of friction as they “enter the next 60 years” of ties.

“There are uncomfortable and difficult aspects to our relationship,” Lee said. “But there are also constructive ones. The task before us is to strengthen the latter and prevent the former from defining our future.”

Takaichi echoed that view, saying the two leaders shared a common understanding of the strategic importance of their relationship. She said she hoped Lee’s visit would help elevate ties and contribute to regional stability.

“Politically, the progressive Lee and conservative Takaichi may not be natural allies, but they are both politicians focused on the national interest,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. He noted that South Korea and Japan share a wide range of economic and security concerns, from maritime safety and demographic challenges to environmental cooperation.

Both governments, he said, seek to reduce threats from North Korea through negotiations, deter coercion by China and manage uncertainty in relations with the United States.

“South Koreans do not want to become collateral damage in the Chinese Communist Party’s pressure campaign against Takaichi’s support for Taiwan,” Easley said, adding that it would be “better for Lee to pragmatically pursue productive relations with all neighbors while speaking up for the principle that no actor should unilaterally change the status quo in the region by force.”

Lee said he and Takaichi agreed on the importance of strengthening bilateral ties and trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan to maintain peace and stability in the region. He added that the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and agreed to coordinate closely in their approaches to North Korea.

The choice of Nara as the site of the summit also carried symbolic weight. It is not only Takaichi’s hometown but also Japan’s first permanent capital.

Visitors look at souvenir items featuring South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at a shop near the venue of their summit Nara, western Japan, on Jan. 13. Nara is Takaichi's hometown. [AP/YONHAP]

Its heritage sites are associated with cultural exchanges between the ancient Korean kingdom of Baekje (18 B.C. to A.D. 660) and the Japanese archipelago. Japanese media described the prime minister’s decision to welcome Lee there as an unusual display of hospitality, a gesture that the South Korean president acknowledged.

“Nara, like Gyeongju, is an ancient capital with a thousand years of history,” he said, adding, “Long ago, in this very place, our ancestors opened their hearts to one another, shared technology and culture, and joined hands to develop together.”

He further characterized “that tradition of exchange and cooperation” as “a precious asset that continues to sustain relations between Korea and Japan today.”

Lee also floated the idea of inviting Takaichi to his hometown, Andong, as a future venue for a summit.

During his stay, Lee is scheduled to visit Horyu-ji, a Buddhist temple complex with some of the world’s oldest surviving wooden structures, whose design reflects Baekje influences.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]