Lee visits Japan ahead of Trump meet

Reuters :

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung reaffirmed security cooperation between the two East Asian neighbours on Saturday, ahead of a summit Lee is to hold with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.

On his first official visit to Japan since taking office in June, Lee met Ishiba at the premier’s residence in Tokyo to discuss bilateral ties, including closer security cooperation with the United States under a trilateral pact signed by their predecessors.

“Stable relations benefit both our countries and our region,” Ishiba said during an expanded round of summit talks. “It is also crucial that we strengthen our trilateral alliance with the U.S.”

The snap election victory of the liberal Lee following the impeachment of conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol for declaring martial law raised concerns in Tokyo that relations with Seoul could sour.

Lee has criticised past efforts to improve ties strained by lingering resentment over Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.