South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and newly appointed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held their first summit meeting in Gyeongju on Thursday (October 30). Takaichi visited South Korea just nine days after taking office. During this symbolic meeting, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to "shuttle diplomacy" and emphasized the need for strengthened future-oriented cooperation between South Korea and Japan amidst escalating regional tensions.
After Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi entered the meeting venue at the Hoebai Art Exhibition Center in Gyeongju at 6 p.m., South Korean President Lee Jae-myung greeted her warmly, and the two shook hands with smiles.
Lee congratulated Takaichi on her inauguration, saying, "As the first female prime minister in Japanese history, this meeting is of special significance." He also highly praised Takaichi's statement at her inaugural press conference, expressing her hope for a future-oriented and stable development of South Korea-Japan relations, saying, "I fully agree with this statement."
Kaohsiung's Prime Minister responded by thanking President Lee Jae-myung for his warm reception, adding, "Although I'm a little late, please accept my sincere congratulations on your election as president."
She said she would actively utilize the "shuttle diplomacy" mechanism to maintain regular communication with President Lee, and emphasized the rising importance of South Korea-Japan and South Korea-US-Japan trilateral cooperation against the backdrop of an increasingly complex regional strategic environment.
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In South Korea, Sanae Takaichi is often referred to as the "female version of Shinzo Abe" because her conservative stance and hardline views on historical issues have raised concerns about the future of South Korea-Japan relations, especially given the recent restoration of the shuttle diplomacy mechanism under the Ishiba Shigeru administration. South Korea fears this mechanism might be disrupted by Takaichi's rise to power.
In her first meeting with Lee Jae-myung, Takaichi indicated she would continue to promote and strengthen shuttle diplomacy, a move seen as a positive sign by South Korean media.
South Korean diplomatic sources pointed out that although the meeting lasted approximately 40 minutes, shorter than Lee Jae-myung's 87-minute meeting with US President Trump the previous day, the two meetings differed in background and format and cannot be simply compared. Trump's trip was a state visit, with a formal welcoming ceremony and banquet arranged by South Korea. Takaichi's visit, however, was a brief, informal one, made while attending the APEC summit, and therefore no formal protocol was arranged.
The South Korean presidential office described the meeting as having symbolic significance as a "greeting ceremony," laying the foundation for mutual trust and communication between the two sides. Given the current volatile global situation and tense regional security climate, the need for cooperation between South Korea and Japan, as well as between South Korea, the United States, and Japan, is increasingly urgent. This meeting paves the way for more substantive formal talks in the future.
Since the specific content of the closed-door meeting has not yet been made public, there is considerable interest in whether the two sides reached a consensus on the time and location of the next summit meeting. It is understood that Lee Jae-myung has proposed to Kaohsiung that future meetings could be held in regional Japanese cities to strengthen inter-regional exchanges and cooperation.
With the successful completion of the first meeting between the two leaders, whether South Korea-Japan relations can maintain stable progress under the shuttle diplomacy mechanism remains to be seen and will depend on the actual policies and actions of both sides.
