Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung met with former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday to explore opportunities for enhancing the bilateral relations between South Korea and Japan, as reported by the presidential office.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Suga visited Seoul leading a delegation from the Japan-South Korea Parliamentarians' Association. This visit marked the highest-level Japanese political figure's first trip to the South Korean capital since President Lee assumed office in early June. During the meeting, President Lee expressed optimism about the increased exchanges between the citizens of the two nations, highlighting the significant improvement in mutual respect and favorability.
President Lee emphasized the importance of people-to-people exchanges in fostering better relationships between the governments and lawmakers of both countries, which he believes will ultimately benefit their bilateral ties. He expressed hope for continued strengthening of relations, considering both countries as "neighbors sharing the same backyard." Suga reiterated this sentiment, committing to work towards deepening ties between Seoul and Tokyo across various domains.
The discussions between Lee and Suga also covered the possibility of resuming "shuttle diplomacy," which refers to regular exchanges between leaders to advance bilateral relations further. This was confirmed by presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung. The meeting coincided with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun's visit to Tokyo, where he was holding discussions with Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya during his first overseas trip since taking office last week. Cho also engaged with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who expressed his intention to maintain and further develop good relations with Seoul.
President Lee later shared details of his meeting with Suga on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He noted that both leaders "assessed highly that South Korea-Japan relations are making stable progress" as the nations commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic normalization. Lee and Suga agreed to further solidify ties through ongoing communication across various sectors, with Lee posting the message in both Japanese and Korean.