South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s push for closer ties with Tokyo has upended expectations in Japan, with analysts describing his outreach as a pragmatic shift that could reshape the tone of bilateral ties long coloured by historical disputes.
Lee is due in Japan on Saturday for a two-day summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, with the two leaders expected to sign several agreements spanning trade, youth exchange and security. The visit also marks the 60th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic ties between their countries.
For Tokyo, the thaw has come as a surprise, given Lee’s leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea – the same party previously headed by Moon Jae-in, under whom bilateral ties plunged to new lows.
“Tokyo is very happy at how things have gone so far,” said Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor of politics and international relations at Tokyo’s Waseda University. “But a large part of that was that they misunderstood who Lee is.”
Shigemura said Japanese officials had assumed Lee would continue Moon’s hardline stance on historical issues such as wartime sexual slavery and forced labour, which strained diplomatic and trade ties. But those fears, he suggested, were misplaced.
“Moon was very much to the political left in Korea and Tokyo feared that Lee was going to take the same positions,” he said. “But while Moon was more driven by ideology, Lee is very different. Lee is not an orthodox leftist but a pragmatist.”
