Leaders of Japan and South Korea vow to cooperate on economy and
regional challenges at summit
[January 13, 2026] By
MARI YAMAGUCHI and MAYUKO ONO
NARA, Japan (AP) — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi agreed to step up cooperation in areas
including economic security, defense and searching for the remains of
Korean forced laborers, as both countries face growing uncertainty and
regional challenges.
The two neighbors are both longtime U.S. allies, but their relations
have frequently been strained by issues including disputes over their
wartime history.
"I believe cooperation between Korea and Japan is now more important
than ever and anything else, as we have to continue moving forward to a
new, better future amid this complex, unstable international order," Lee
said at the outset of the summit Tuesday.
During a joint news conference after the talks, the two leaders said
they had agreed to cooperate in areas including supply chains,
artificial intelligence, measures against transnational crime and
carrying out DNA analysis on remains that may belong to Korean forced
laborers found last year at a former Japanese undersea mine.
Takaichi said she had renewed her determination to further improve
Japan's relations with South Korea “as I believe the two countries
should cooperate and contribute for the stability in the region.”
“This year I will elevate Japan-South Korea relations even higher," said
smiling Takaichi, who aims to secure stable ties with Seoul while Tokyo
struggles with a worsening dispute with China.
The meeting could deliver a political win as Takaichi seeks to shore up
her power. Less than three months after taking office, she enjoys strong
approval ratings but her party has a majority in only one of two houses
of Parliament. There is growing speculation she may be planning a snap
election in hopes of gaining more seats.
Summit held in a city known for deer and ancient architecture
Takaichi is hosting Lee in her hometown, Nara, an ancient capital known
for its treasured deer and centuries-old Buddhist temples.
Nara, the center of cultural exchanges between the Korean Peninsula and
Japan in ancient times, “carries a special meaning at a time Korea-Japan
exchanges are more important than ever," Lee said.
Lee proposed a meeting in the city during October's Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, South Korea.
Takaichi will take Lee on a tour Wednesday of Horyu Temple, which
includes buildings from the late 7th or early 8th century. They are
among the world’s oldest surviving wooden architecture and illustrate
Japan's adoption of Buddhism via the Korean Peninsula. Lee also will
meet with South Korean residents in Japan before returning home in the
afternoon.
Japan’s cultural, religious and political ties to the Korean Peninsula
are ancient, but in modern times their relationship has been repeatedly
disrupted by disputes stemming from Japan's brutal colonial rule of
Korea from 1910-1945.
The Japanese prime minister faces intensifying trade and political
tension with China over a remark about Taiwan that angered Beijing days
after she took office. Takaichi said that potential Chinese military
action against Taiwan, the island democracy Beijing claims as its own,
could justify Japanese intervention.
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Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, right, shakes hands with
South Kore's President Lee Jae Myung at the start of their meeting
in Nara, western Japan Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Issei Kato/Pool
Photo via AP)
 Lee said he had reminded Takaichi of
the importance of three-way cooperation with China. A trilateral
summit, which Japan was supposed to host last year, did not happen
due to Tokyo’s worsening relations with Beijing.
While Lee was in Beijing for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping
last week, he told reporters that relations with Japan are as
important as those with China but that South Korea’s ability to
broker reconciliation between its neighbors is limited.
Economic security, North Korea and alliances with the US
Lee said the two leaders agreed to find ways to establish more
comprehensive partnerships on economic security, science and
technology sectors.
He and Takaichi also discussed the challenges of North Korea and
agreed to cooperate in the effort to achieve the North's complete
denuclearization.
Japan and South Korea, both key U.S. allies, reaffirmed the
strategic importance of their cooperation that also includes
Washington, but did not comment on President Donald Trump’s
unpredictable diplomacy or his pressure to further increase their
defense spending.
Leaders prioritize issues of mutual concern, but small progress
on history
Relations between Seoul and Tokyo have begun improving in recent
years in the face of shared challenges such as growing China-U.S.
competition and North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.
There were early concerns about Takaichi's ability to work with Lee,
fed by her reputation as a security hawk and an assumption by some
that the left-wing South Korean leader would tilt toward North Korea
and China. But so far, both leaders have sought to set aside their
differences.
While avoiding their past historical disputes, the two leaders
confirmed cooperation in an ongoing effort led by civil society
groups to recover and identify remains found last year at the Chosei
Mine, a former undersea mining site in the western Japanese
prefecture of Yamaguchi, where about 180 workers, mostly Korean
forced laborers, were killed in a 1942 accident. The leaders agreed
on cooperation to conduct DNA analysis on the remains.
“It's small yet a meaningful" agreement on wartime history issues
between the two countries, Lee said.
___
Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.
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