Japanese Media: "The Biggest Common Issue Between South Korea and Japan Is U.S. New Isolationism"

Concerns Over U.S. Disengagement from East Asia
"Direct Impact on Security Issues for South Korea and Japan"

President Lee Jae-myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are scheduled to meet on January 13 in Nara Prefecture, Japan. Japanese media have identified the United States' "new isolationism" as the most significant common issue facing both South Korea and Japan.

President Lee Jae-myung is having an informal brief meeting with Sanae Takaichi, Prime Minister of Japan, at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the Group of Twenty (G20) summit was held last November. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The Sankei Shimbun reported that Prime Minister Takaichi’s top priority ahead of the summit is to strengthen the favorable relationship between Japan and South Korea, as uncertainty in the East Asian security environment has grown due to the Donald Trump administration’s focus on the Americas. The newspaper highlighted the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy (NSS), announced last month, as a representative example of American new isolationism, also known as "Donro-ism." It pointed out that for South Korea and Japan, which are directly exposed to threats from China, Russia, and North Korea, maintaining the United States’ connection to East Asia is a matter directly linked to their security.

The article also noted that the trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan serves as a crucial channel for keeping the United States engaged in East Asia. It suggested that this South Korea-Japan summit could be a major turning point for President Lee’s pragmatic diplomacy, which has aimed to strengthen ties with both Japan and China. The report added that attention is focused on how President Lee will address China-Japan tensions and the economic issues among South Korea, China, and Japan during this summit.

The Yomiuri Shimbun also stated that the upcoming summit is expected to discuss responses to China, North Korea, and the Trump administration, and noted that this is the first time since the resumption of shuttle diplomacy between the two leaders that a South Korean president will be received alone in a Japanese region.

President Lee is scheduled to visit Japan on this day and hold talks with Prime Minister Takaichi in her hometown of Nara Prefecture. Previously, the two leaders met last October during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, where they reaffirmed their commitment to continuing shuttle diplomacy.