KOREA

Writer. Sung Ji Yeon
Photos courtesy of. Office of the President

President Lee Jae Myung visited Japan and the U.S. to attend the Korea-Japan and Korea-U.S. summits.

On Aug. 23, President Lee and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met in Tokyo, where they agreed to develop bilateral relations in a future-oriented and stable manner to commemorate the 60th anniversary of normalized diplomatic relations.

The two leaders issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to address international challenges together and cooperate for mutual benefit. The Japanese side clearly stated that it would comprehensively inherit the positions of all previous cabinets regarding historical recognition, including the joint Kim Dae-jung–Obuchi Declaration on a New Japan-Republic of Korea Partnership towards the Twenty-first Century in 1998.

The leaders agreed on expanding cooperation in future industries such as hydrogen and AI, launching consultative bodies to jointly respond to social issues like low birth rates and regional revitalization, and strengthening people-to-people exchanges including expanding the working holiday program.

They also shared the recognition that strategic communication should be strengthened amid changes in the regional strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific region and economic and trade order, and decided to consolidate cooperation systems at presidential and various levels in fields such as security and the economy.

They reaffirmed their commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and permanent peace, pledging continued coordination on North Korea policy.

They also promised mutual cooperation for the successful hosting of the 2025 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Economic Leaders’ Meeting, scheduled for October in Korea, and the Korea-Japan-China summit in Japan.

On Aug. 25, President Lee and President Donald Trump held their first summit meeting at the White House. The meeting proceeded in order with opening remarks by both leaders, a brief press conference and an expanded summit meeting.

Both countries agreed to strengthen economic cooperation centered on the shipbuilding industry. President Trump praised Korea’s shipbuilding industry and expressed interest in collaborating so the U.S. could resume shipbuilding. President Lee responded by saying, “The U.S. is apparently becoming great again,” and expressed his expectation that Korea would actively participate in the renaissance of not only shipbuilding but the manufacturing industry as a whole.

Regarding the Korea-U.S. alliance, President Lee stated, “Based on the steadfast bilateral alliance, the Republic of Korea has grown and developed,” and expressed his hope to expand the alliance in a future-oriented manner not only in the military sector but also in economic and science and technology fields.

The two leaders also formed a consensus on promoting trilateral cooperation between Korea, the U.S. and Japan. President Lee emphasized that Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation is “a very important task” and stressed the need for improvement in Korea-Japan relations to enhance Korea-U.S. relations. President Trump said Tokyo wants better relations with Seoul, and both countries share common interests regarding North Korea policy.

President Lee officially invited President Trump to the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and proposed pursuing a meeting with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong Un. President Trump called it a “wise” suggestion and promised “full support” to Korea.