President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands during the Korea-Japan summit held at Nurimaru APEC House in Haeundae-gu, Busan, on September 30, 2025. Presidential Office photo pool

On the 8th, President Lee Jae Myung will have lunch with former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who is visiting South Korea.

President Lee is expected to meet former Prime Minister Ishiba that day to exchange views on Korea-Japan relations, the international situation stemming from the Middle East, and other issues.

Having arrived in South Korea the previous day, former Prime Minister Ishiba is scheduled to attend ‘Asan Plenum 2026’ in Seoul that day, hosted by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, and deliver a keynote address. Ishiba, who is also a sitting member of the House of Representatives, is regarded in Japanese politics as a pro-Korea politician.

During the period when Ishiba served as prime minister, President Lee held three summits with him over four months.

The two leaders first held talks on the occasion of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada in June last year, and then went on to hold meetings in Tokyo, Japan, in August and in Busan in September in a leader-to-leader ‘shuttle visit’ format.