Prime Minister Ishiba’s Visit to S. Korea: Develop Bilateral Relations through Reciprocal Visits by Leaders

Editorial

15:57 JST, October 2, 2025

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba visited South Korea even as he is set to resign, likely because he wanted to put mutual visits by leaders of the two countries on the right track. Japan’s next administration must also strive to further develop the trend of improvement in bilateral relations.

Ishiba visited Busan, South Korea, and held talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

The two leaders agreed to accelerate discussions on common challenges faced by both nations, such as declining birth rates and aging populations, as well as the concentration of their populaces in and around their capitals.

They also confirmed a policy to maintain close bilateral cooperation, as well as between Japan, the United States and South Korea, to push for North Korea’s denuclearization.

These points were all agreed on during the summit that was held when Lee visited Japan in late August. In that sense, these cannot be called new achievements.

However, it is significant that the leaders carried out reciprocal visits in a short period of time.

Since the previous summit, cooperation between Tokyo and Seoul has been taking a concrete form.

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani visited South Korea last month, for the first visit by a Japanese defense minister in 10 years. At the defense ministers meeting in Seoul, they agreed to strengthen ties between the Self-Defense Forces and the South Korean military. Given the growing threat of North Korea’s nuclear and missile development programs, it is crucial to deepen defense cooperation between the two countries.

South Korea is Japan’s third-largest trading partner, after the United States and China. At the same time, Japan serves as a vital export destination for South Korea’s semiconductors and other products. People-to-people exchanges are also continuing to increase.

Authorities from both countries should continue to facilitate communication and strengthen their relationship as important partners.

However, historical issues remain between the two nations. While Lee intends to uphold past agreements between Japan and South Korea on such matters as the so-called comfort women issue, he has also said that there remains the issue of how the South Korean people feel.

Frequent summits could help reduce the emotional distance between the two peoples and deepen mutual understanding of each other’s positions.

With the latest summit, Ishiba made notable efforts to advance Japan-South Korea relations. However, some have argued that he may be rushing to achieve results during the short time left to him in office. They are referring to his view that he is considering issuing on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Ishiba intends to position this view as his “personal message” and to not have it officially approved at a Cabinet meeting.

However, if such a message is issued by Japan’s prime minister, other countries could likely perceive it as Japan’s policy. Depending on its content, it could be used by China or other countries to shake Japan on historical issues.

Does Ishiba truly need to issue this view 1½ months after the anniversary of the war’s end? Ishiba himself surely does not wish to negatively impact the diplomacy of the administration that will succeed him.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 2, 2025)