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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) of Japan and President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea (right) chat as they head into their summit meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 23, 2025. (Yonhap)

By Hong Seock-jae, Tokyo correspondent

President Lee Jae Myung returned to Korea on Thursday after concluding his first whirlwind six-day visit to Japan and the United States.

Choosing Japan before the US as the first bilateral summit destination appears to have been a sound strategy in many respects. Initially, Japan's conservative media, political circles, and even government officials viewed Lee with suspicion, labeling him “anti-Japan.” However, after Lee held his first summit since taking office with Japan and stated that he had no intention to overturn previous agreements on the issues of “comfort women” victims and wartime forced laborers, the wary voices have mellowed.

In response to Lee's cordial approach, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba wore a badge featuring the national flags of both countries side by side during the summit. This pin symbolizing mutual respect and cooperation was a gift which the Korean Embassy in Japan presented directly to Ishiba this June, at the commemoration ceremony for the 60th anniversary of Korea and Japan’s normalization of diplomatic relations. By displaying it alongside his usual House of Representatives badge, the Osaka Expo pin, and the blue ribbon pin honoring victims abducted by North Korea, Ishiba highlighted his intent to strengthen Korea-Japan relations. 

Ishiba also remarked on the fact that this is the first time since the normalization of diplomatic relations that Japan has been the first destination for a South Korean president's bilateral meeting. “I am pleased to resume shuttle diplomacy,” he added.

For Lee, this Korea-Japan summit might have felt like a preliminary round in terms of the stakes involved, compared to his meeting with US President Donald Trump. However, it was a significant occasion that set the tone for relations with Japan over the next five years. 

Both leaders appeared cautious, taking half-steps forward without overextending themselves or falling behind. The first joint statement released by the South Korean and Japanese leaders after 17 years included a sentence that reads as a textbook agreement following a bilateral summit: “South Korea and Japan should cooperate to advance future-oriented, mutually beneficial common interests.” 

The statement expressed a shared intent not only to promptly resume shuttle diplomacy and tackle complex international concerns such as North Korea's denuclearization, security, and the economy, but also to jointly address practical issues such as low birth rates, aging populations, metropolitan concentration, and artificial intelligence. It also opened the door to elevating Korea-Japan relations once more through a new joint declaration that inherits and builds on that by Kim Dae-jung and Keizo Obuchi in 1998.

Ultimately, both sides walked away from the summit with favorable outcomes. Lee laid the groundwork for stable Korea-Japan relations and leveraged this accomplishment at the Korea-US summit. He elicited a positive response from Trump by stating that he is aware that “better Korea-Japan relations are also important for the Korea US relationship as well.” He added, “I made a visit to Japan before coming to the US to settle the difficult issues that we have.” 

Meanwhile, Ishiba managed to divert attention from hard-liners within his Liberal Democratic Party seeking to oust him by shifting the spotlight to foreign affairs. This move has secured him some relief for the time being. His approval rating also saw a post-summit bump. 

But this fleeting mood of reconciliation doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot left for Korea and Japan to do. Local civic groups have vocally come out against Lee’s attitude at the summit, asking whether this is “the same Lee who criticized the 2015 [‘comfort women’] deal as ‘an attempt to forever bury the Koreans who suffered in Japan’ at the time of its adoption.”

At a governmental level as well, there is a growing pile of contentious issues that need attending to, such as the derailment of last year’s memorial for the Koreans forced to work in Japan’s Sado gold mines during the colonial period. 

On his flight leaving Japan, Lee told reporters that he’s “ready to face criticism and opinions on these issues.” Whether the Lee administration’s “pragmaticism” will get results in its two-track approach separating past and present issues with Japan remains to be seen. 

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