South Korea's Lee in Japan to shore up ties before meeting Trump

23/8/2025 16:58

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung arrived in Japan on Saturday for a summit expected to reaffirm security cooperation between the two East Asian neighbours before Lee meets U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday.



On his first official visit to Japan since taking office in June, Lee will meet Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the premier's residence in Tokyo to discuss bilateral ties, including closer security cooperation with the United States under a trilateral pact signed by their predecessors.



The snap election victory of the liberal Lee - following the impeachment of conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol for declaring martial law - raised concerns in Tokyo that relations with Seoul could sour.



Lee has criticised past efforts to improve ties strained by lingering resentment over Japan's 1910–45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.



The South Korean government last week expressed "deep disappointment and regret" after Japanese officials visited a shrine in Tokyo to Japan's war dead that many Koreans see as a symbol of Japan's wartime aggression.