Takaichi visits South Korea to hold talks with Lee, Xi

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrived at Gimhae International Airport in Busan on Thursday, marking her first visit to South Korea since her inauguration.

Takaichi, who took office on Oct. 21, landed at 3 p.m., kicking off a three-day visit to attend a series of events related to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which opens Friday in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province.

Her schedule begins with a bilateral summit with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Gyeongju, about an hour’s drive from the airport. The meeting will mark their first face-to-face talks.

Takaichi has expressed her willingness to enhance relations with Seoul.

At a press conference on Oct. 22, a day after taking office, Takaichi said she looked forward to meeting President Lee at the APEC summit, calling South Korea “an important neighbor and a key partner" in tackling shared global challenges.

At the same press event, she also expressed personal affection for Korean culture, saying she “likes kimchi, uses Korean cosmetics and enjoys Korean dramas.”

According to Japanese media reports, Takaichi said she expects the upcoming summit to discuss building a “future-oriented” relationship, strengthening trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the US and Japan, and expanding economic exchanges.

Attention is also on whether Takaichi will hold a separate summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who arrived in South Korea earlier in the day and held talks with US President Donald Trump, who later departed for Washington.

According to Kyodo News, Takaichi plans to meet Xi on Friday to discuss stabilizing Japan-China relations. Possible agenda items include the Chinese military’s activities in the East China Sea, issues related to Taiwan, and Beijing’s potential tightening of rare earth exports, key materials for semiconductors and permanent magnets.

The last visit by a Japanese prime minister took place on Sept. 30, when former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met Lee in Busan following Lee’s trip to Japan a month earlier.