Just days after a trip to Beijing and Shanghai, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung was in Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday, discussing trade and investment, regional security, and cultural ties with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae.
Lee's visit, his second to Japan in six months, bolsters ties between the two historical rivals as they confront shared challenges, including aging populations, the risks posed by U.S. tariffs, and North Korea.
In Nara, Takaichi’s hometown, the two leaders affirmed “that they should work together to play a role in ensuring the stability of the region,” and agreed to deepen work on economic security, supply chains, and the “complete denuclearization of North Korea.”
Tokyo and Beijing are locked in a monthslong dispute sparked by Takaichi’s assertion in November that a “Taiwan contingency” (i.e. a Chinese invasion of Taiwan) could represent “a survival-threatening situation for Japan.” Takaichi is expected to call a snap election next week to strengthen her slim lower-house majority and capitalize on her rising popularity, which is partly due to the Japan–China diplomatic standoff.
In his meeting with Takaichi, Lee emphasized "the need for [South Korea, Japan, and China] ... to communicate and co-operate.”
China announced another barrage of measures targeting Japan last week, including a ban on the export of dual-use materials, including some rare-earth metals.
In 2010, Japan imported 90 per cent of its rare earths from China, a figure that declined to 60 per cent by 2025. Tokyo appears to be seeking even more insulation from Beijing’s economic coercion: on Monday, Japan initiated “the world’s first test to extract rare earth elements from deep-sea mud,” with a Japanese mining vessel plotting a course for the remote Minamitori Island, according to Mining.com.
Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, meanwhile, was in Washington, D.C., over the weekend to discuss critical minerals with his G7 counterparts, including Japan.
