SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥� South Korean President and Japanese Prime Minister held their fourth meeting in about six months on Tuesday, underscoring the need for between the historical amid global challenges, including .
Lee hosted Takaichi in his hometown of Andong, a southeastern South Korean city famous for its centuries-old traditional folk village, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In January, the two met in Takaichi鈥檚 hometown of , an ancient Japanese capital.
The meetings marked the first time sitting leaders of the two countries have visited each other鈥檚 hometowns.
鈥淭he fact that such meaningful and historic exchanges took place in the span of just four months speaks to the depth and strength of the friendship and bonds that Korea and Japan now share,鈥� Lee told a joint news conference with Takaichi after the summit.
Lee said bilateral cooperation was needed more than ever due to instability in and energy markets caused by the war in the Middle East. Takaichi made similar comments, saying the two discussed stabilizing energy and critical mineral supplies and pursuing swap arrangements of crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas.
The two leaders said they also discussed the importance of trilateral cooperation among Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington.
Experts say current ties between Seoul and Tokyo have no sticking points and that their relationship will subsequently remain on a positive trajectory for now.
鈥淭he two countries focus more on cooperation than contentious issues,鈥� said Choi Eunmi, a Japan expert at the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies. 鈥淭hey would now think negative bilateral relations won鈥檛 be helpful to anyone.鈥�
South Korea and Japan are both key U.S. allies with vibrant democracies. But their relationship has long experienced severe ups and downs over grievances stemming from Japan鈥檚 35-year colonization of the Korean Peninsula before the end of World War II.
Relations began improving in 2023 when Lee and Takaichi鈥檚 took steps to move beyond history disputes to strengthen bilateral cooperation, saying they faced common challenges like the U.S.-China strategic competition, supply chain vulnerabilities and .
When Lee and Takaichi each took office as new leaders last year, observers worried about Takaichi鈥檚 reputation as a right-wing security hawk and the anticipation that Lee, a political liberal, would tilt toward North Korea and China and away from the U.S. and Japan. But they have maintained cooperation, even in some unprecedented ways.
In August, two months before Takaichi鈥檚 inauguration, Lee became the first South Korean leader to choose Japan as his first destination for a bilateral summit. At the end of their meeting in January, Lee and Takaichi such as BTS鈥� 鈥淒ynamite鈥� in a jam session arranged by the Japanese leader, a heavy metal fan who was a drummer in her college days.
Lee has said he and Takaichi share a view that national leaders must act differently from ordinary politicians. But many observers say the two leaders also likely feel the need to tighten cooperation because they have more grave geopolitical difficulties than their predecessors, such as U.S. President Donald Trump鈥檚 and global economic damage caused by the Iran war.
South Korea and Japan both have pledged hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. business investments. Trump鈥檚 tariff war and his to security threaten the trust in the U.S. held by many South Koreans and Japanese.
Ties between Seoul and Tokyo are so delicate that they could suffer unexpected setbacks if they fail to formulate coping measures for explosive issues such as Japan鈥檚 colonial-era mobilization of Koreans as and , according to experts, who say wrangling over those issues has eased as the two governments try to avoid public discussions.
鈥淏oth are not talking about how to settle these disputes or prevent them from recurring and we don鈥檛 know when such conflicts may arise,鈥� Choi said.
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Associated Press writers Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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