South Korean Prez Lee arrives in Tokyo for summit talks with Japanese PM Ishiba

Tokyo, Aug 23 (IANS) South Korean President Lee Jae Myung arrived in Tokyo on Saturday for summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba as he seeks to expand cooperation with Tokyo while squarely facing up to the history of the past.

The Saturday summit with Ishiba comes before Lee will head for Washington for high-stakes summit talks with US President Donald Trump, in a rare diplomatic decision for South Korean presidents who choose Washington, a key defence ally, as their first diplomatic destination after taking office.

It would be Lee's second in-person meeting with Ishiba, following their encounter on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada in June, reports Yonhap news agency.

In a joint written interview with four Japanese newspapers -- the Asahi Shimbun, the Mainichi Shimbun, Nikkei and the Sankei Shimbun -- released earlier in the day, Lee expressed hope to strengthen cooperation with Japan in the fields of security and economy.

Lee called his visit to Tokyo an opportunity to solidify the foundation for "future-oriented" ties, as this year marks the 60th anniversary of the normalisation of the countries' diplomatic relations.

"Korea-Japan relations simultaneously contain aspects of confrontation, cooperation and mutual tolerance. What's important is to identify as many mutually beneficial elements as possible," he said in the interview. "There is no need to abandon the beneficial aspects because of certain negative ones."

On Sunday, Lee is scheduled to meet Japanese lawmakers in the morning before departing for Washington for his summit with Trump the next day.

Lee, who took office in June, is set to hold the first summit talks with Trump in Washington after South Korea reached a trade deal with the US that agreed to lower "reciprocal" tariffs on South Korean goods to 15 per cent from the proposed 25 per cent in return for massive investments and a market opening.

National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac has said Lee and Trump will discuss efforts for "alliance modernisation" during their meeting at the White House, adding that modernising the alliance is aimed at bolstering the joint defence posture between Seoul and Washington.

At a time when the United States is focusing on deterring an increasingly assertive China, analysts said that Washington is pushing to adjust the alliance with Seoul under the name of "modernisation" and could discuss a US ground troop cut in Korea.

--IANS

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