Japan’s Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi will host South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in her hometown tomorrow, Tuesday, January 13, 2026, in a summit meant to stabilize ties between the two sometime-rivals.
Takaichi and Lee will meet in her hometown of Nara, Japan’s scenic ancient capital as Japan’s worries about Chinese power in Asia grows.
Today, Takaichi returned to the area for the first time since taking office and posted an optimistic message on X.
“I hope to further push forward Japan’s relations with South Korea in the forward-looking way as we meet in the ancient capital of Nara with more than 1,300 years of history and longstanding cultural exchanges between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.”
Sanae Takaichi
The meeting between the Japanese and South Korean leaders comes amid a swirl of diplomatic activity in a region with growing tensions.
A week ago, Lee visited China, where leader Xi Jinping sought to cozy up to Seoul amid tensions between Japan and China after Takaichi said in November that potential Chinese military action against Taiwan, the island democracy Beijing claims as its own, could justify Japanese intervention.
Lee’s visit also follows the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro by the United States, a mutual ally of Japan and South Korea.
Japanese Foreign Ministry officials revealed that the talks will be their first full summit and third meeting in less than three months since Takaichi took office.
Their meeting will focus on trade and the challenges of China and North Korea.
During Lee’s meetings in China, Xi called on the two countries to join hands, noting their historical rivalry against Japan in World War II.
Lee told reporters during his China visit that “relations with Japan are as important as those with China for us.” He expressed hopes for swift resolutions of Japan-China disputes but admitted Seoul had limited capabilities to broker a reconciliation.
Japan and South Korea must also figure out how to deal with Trump’s unpredictable diplomacy, and both countries are under US pressure to increase their defense spending.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters on Friday that given the current strategic environment, strengthening Japan-South Korea relations and reinforcing the Japan-US-South Korea cooperation is “more important than ever.”
“The Japanese and South Korean governments are on the same page about closely communicating to develop our relations stably and in a forward-looking manner.”
Toshimitsu Motegi
Takaichi, Lee Likely To Discuss Possible Humanitarian Cooperation
Japan’s cultural, religious and political ties to the Korean Peninsula are ancient, but their modern history has been repeatedly disrupted by disputes stemming from the brutal Japanese colonial rule of Korea from 1910-1945.
Relations have begun improving in recent years under shared challenges such as growing China-US competition and North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.
While the two leaders are expected to stay away from the historical disputes, media reports say they may discuss possible humanitarian cooperation in the ongoing effort to recover the remains at a former undersea mining site in western Japan where 180 workers, including 136 Korean forced laborers, were killed in a 1942 accident.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said that the two governments have been discussing a possible DNA analysis of some of the remains found at the site last year.
Takaichi and Lee on Wednesday will visit Horyu Temple, which includes architecture from the late 7th or early 8th century, making them some of the world’s oldest surviving wooden buildings and illustrating Japanese adaptation of Buddhism via the Korean Peninsula.
Lee will also meet with South Korean residents in Japan before returning home in the afternoon.
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