The first meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung could not have gone off to a better start, with analysts noting the two leaders’ warm rapport sealed with handshakes, smiles and vows to look to the future.
Advertisement
While they projected goodwill during their summit ahead of the Apec forum in the South Korean city of Gyeongju on Thursday, long-standing tensions over history and territorial disputes, and domestic political pressures arising from the bilateral ties are likely to resurface at some point, according to analysts.
“For now, they appear to be putting very positive faces on, but there are a lot of potential obstacles ahead,” said Ben Ascione, an assistant professor of politics and international relations at Tokyo’s Waseda University.
“When Takaichi was first elected head of the Liberal Democratic Party and then prime minister, there was a lot of fear that this was going to spell doom”, following recent progress in Tokyo’s relations with Seoul and Beijing, Ascione told This Week in Asia.
There have been concerns that her position on the region’s shared history, her past visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo and the right flank of her Liberal Democratic Party ignoring “Japan’s colonial and historic transgressions” could cause friction between Japan and its neighbours, he added.
Advertisement
While it was still early in their diplomatic relationship, the two leaders’ focus on the future rather than the past was a positive, Ascione said.