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President to hold summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Busan

Published: 26 Sep. 2025, 20:35

President Lee Jae Myung, left, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands after their joint press briefing on the results of their bilateral summit at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on Aug. 23. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Lee Jae Myung will hold a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Busan on Sept. 30, the presidential office said on Friday. Ishiba will make a two-day official visit to Korea from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1.

Kang Yoo-jung, the presidential spokesperson, told reporters the two leaders will meet for talks and dinner in Busan.

The office said the visit follows the resumption of the so-called “shuttle diplomacy” last month. During his trip to Japan on Aug. 23 and 24, Lee proposed to Ishiba that the next meeting take place outside Seoul.

“I know the prime minister is especially interested in balanced regional development,” Lee said at the time. “If you come to Korea as part of shuttle diplomacy, I would like to meet you in a region rather than in the capital.”

Kang explained that Busan was chosen because Ishiba had expressed interest in visiting a regional city during his last meeting with Lee.

This will be the first Korea-Japan summit held in Busan since 2005, when President Roh Moo-hyun and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met during the APEC summit. The last time a Japanese prime minister visited a Korean city outside Seoul for a bilateral summit was in 2004, when Koizumi traveled to Jeju.

Kang said the two leaders will use the meeting to strengthen future-oriented cooperation, reinforce trilateral ties with the United States and discuss regional peace and stability.

Ishiba’s trip marks his first to Korea since taking office in October. The meeting will be the two leaders' third — and last. Ishiba has announced he will step down as leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, which will elect a new chief on Oct. 4. Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also visited Korea shortly before leaving office last September, meeting then-President Yoon Suk Yeol.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY YOON SUNG-MIN [[email protected]]