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Korean, Japanese leaders bond over Busan stroll, dinner of delicacies

Published: 01 Oct. 2025, 00:19 Updated: 01 Oct. 2025, 09:27

SARAH KIM
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President Lee Jae Myung, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, center, take a walk around the Nurimaru APEC House in Busan on Sept. 30 after their bilateral summit. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

BUSAN — President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shared a stroll and dinner together with dishes featuring ingredients from their hometowns as they reunited in the Korean coastal city of Busan Tuesday.

Following their bilateral summit, Lee and Ishiba took a walk together outside the Nurimaru APEC House, on Dongbaek Island, a scenic venue built for the 2005 APEC summit. Ishiba's visit to Seoul marked the two leaders' third summit since June in a sign of resumed shuttle diplomacy between the two countries, and also is expected to be the outgoing Japanese prime minister's last diplomatic event.

Japanese first lady Yoshiko Ishiba joined the leaders for the dinner banquet, though first lady Kim Hea Kyung missed the summit events due to health issues.

President Lee Jae Myung, right, leads Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, left, and his wife Yoshiko Ishiba to the venue of a dinner banquet at a hotel in Busan on Sept. 30. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

The dinner menu featured chilled snow crab, a specialty of Japan's Tottori Prefecture, Prime Minister Ishiba's hometown, served with pine nut sauce from Gapyeong in Gyeonggi, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a press briefing.

Other dishes included a braised short rib dish made with Korean beef from Andong in Gyeonggi, and freshly harvested rice from Lee's hometown.

Also on the menu was tofu chikuwa, a traditional Tottori dish made with tofu and fish meat, reinterpreted into Busan's specialty, fried eomuk (fish cakes).

President Lee Jae Myung, right, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba take a walk around the Nurimaru APEC House in Busan on Sept. 30 after their bilateral summit. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

The meal included traditional Korean health foods meant to give longevity to the leaders, such as croaker. Other ingredients featured were delicacies such as Bonghwa pine mushrooms and steamed abalone, bringing the "aroma of autumnal forests and the deep flavors of the sea," Kang said.

Dessert included Okgwang chestnuts, mochi (traditional Japanese rice cake) and buckwheat tea.

President Lee Jae Myung, center, hosts Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, center, for a dinner banquet in Busan on Sept. 30 after their bilateral summit. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Lee Jae Myung, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his wife, Yoshiko Ishiba, watch a traditional performance at a hotel in Busan on Sept. 30. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

The meal featured a selection of alcohol including makgeolli (Korean rice wine), traditional Japanese sake, wine from France's Burgundy region made by a Korean-Japanese couple and Gyeongju beopju, a traditional Korean liquor from the 2025 APEC host city.

During the summit dinner in Tokyo last month, the Japanese prime minister served Lee his signature "Ishiba-style curry," along with Andong-style braised chicken, Andong soju and Tottori beer.

The dinner venue's digital displays showcased artifacts related to the historic Joseon Tongsinsa, goodwill diplomatic missions during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910).

President Lee Jae Myung, left, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, right, and first lady Yoshiko Ishiba hold a Japanese edition of Lee's book during a dinner event at a hotel in Busan on Sept. 30. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

Spokesperson Kang said the dishes "symbolized harmony between Korea and Japan" and reflects a "new shared cultural spirit."

Lee referred to Prime Minister Ishiba’s UN General Assembly speech last week where he said, “No country can forge the path to a bright future unless it squarely faces history.”

The Korean leader said he agrees with these remarks, noting, “This aligns with my belief that we must face the past and move toward a brighter future,” according to Kang.

Kang said Ishiba expressed his appreciations for these remarks.

Ishiba was on a two-day working visit to Korea, reciprocating Lee's trip to Tokyo last month, but Kang noted that the Korean government made sure to follow courtesy akin to that of a state visit.

BY SARAH KIM [[email protected]]