September 30, 2025
SEOUL – President Lee Jae Myung’s national security adviser said the upcoming working visit by outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will mark the restoration of “shuttle diplomacy” between the two countries, in which leaders frequently take turns visiting each other’s country.
The leaders on Tuesday will hold a summit and a dinner in Busan, hosted by President Lee, Wi Sung-lac, director of the presidential National Security Office, told reporters Monday.
A joint document will likely be announced following the summit, Wi added.
Wi said that Ishiba would be the first Japanese leader to travel to another place within Korea outside Seoul in 21 years, since ex-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met then-President Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 on Jeju Island.
Lee visited Tokyo to meet Ishiba in late August, just before his visit to the White House to discuss tariff and trade negotiations with the US. Ishiba’s follow-up trip to South Korea will mark the third official meeting of the two leaders, as they first met in Canada on the margins of a Group of Seven summit.
The upcoming meeting will address common issues between the two countries, such as demographic crises in remote areas that are not bound by political interests, according to the presidential office. This meeting will confirm that even after Ishiba steps down, he will continue to play an active role as a senior lawmaker in Japan’s political scene, working to advance and strengthen Korea-Japan relations, Wi added. The Japanese prime minister announced his resignation earlier this month and is expected to step down after an election scheduled on Oct. 4.
Against the backdrop of US moves to sign trade deals with South Korea and Japan, among other trade partners, Wi said the Lee-Ishiba meeting will likely touch on the international trade order as the leaders will likely “gather wisdom,” but said the countries’ trade matters with the US are not on the official agenda.
The US and Japan signed a deal in early September, while talks over a similar deal between South Korea and the US remain in progress.
From the standpoints of both South Korea and Japan, one of the major concerns is the US’ demand for an “upfront” cash payment regarding investment commitments in the US to make the deal happen in return for lower tariffs on goods exported to the US.
Wi on Monday reiterated his stance that South Korea cannot afford to funnel the proposed $350 billion investment in the form of upfront cash to US projects controlled by Trump, and that Trump’s remarks on Thursday that South Korea will make the “upfront” cash payment for its deal might not necessarily be a refusal of Seoul’s request that it cannot proceed like so.
“We cannot guarantee that Trump’s remarks came in response to our stance, or (if) he did so before he was aware of our stance,” Wi said. “Some say Trump (on Thursday) declined our requests, but I think he just made his basic stance.”
“Anyhow, the upfront cash investment of $350 billion is an impossible task,” he added.
Wi also said the trade deal is not tied to ongoing talks over US visas for South Korean workers.
