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A video message from President Lee Jae-myung plays at a reception hosted by the Japanese Embassy in Korea at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul on June 16, 2025, to mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of ties between South Korea and Japan. (Park Min-hee/Hankyoreh)

During an event to commemorate 60 years of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Japan hosted in Seoul on Monday, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung called both countries “key partners” who must “explore ways for responding to the rapidly changing international landscape together.” 

The event was hosted by the Japanese Embassy at the Lotte Hotel Seoul in the Korean capital’s Jung District. Lee attended virtually to offer his congratulatory remarks. 

“Throughout the past 60 years, South Korea and Japan have achieved astounding levels of development in all sorts of areas through economic, cultural and human exchanges,” Lee said. 

“Let us join hands and move toward a better future,” he added.  

Lee sent his congratulations virtually as he had departed on Monday for the Group of Seven summit in Canada. 

The president expressed a desire to “build trust and friendship with Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru” during the summit in Canada.  

The foreign ministries of both countries agreed to hold two commemorative events in the capitals of both countries. The Seoul event was hosted by the Japanese Embassy. Kim Jin-a, the second vice foreign minister, represented South Korea while Akihisa Nagashima, special adviser to Ishiba on national security, represented Japan. 

“Considering the grave international situation these days, it is not a choice but a necessity that our two nations communicate closely and expand our breadth of cooperation,” Nagashima said. 

The South Korean Embassy will host its event in Tokyo on Thursday, and there is a chance that Ishiba will attend. 

Nagashima, who had flown into Seoul to attend the event, also met with Wi Sung-lac, Lee’s national security adviser, and with the lawmakers belonging to the Korea-Japan Parliamentarians’ Union to discuss the Lee administration’s “pragmatic diplomacy” initiative. 

Nagashima also gave a keynote address at a seminar hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies and the Korean Council on Foreign Relations.

“We need to keep a close eye on the movements of the Lee Jae-myung administration going forward, and we have big expectations of President Lee’s approach of ‘pragmatism,’” Nagashima said.

The special adviser also underscored the need to bolster cooperation as regards military security, energy security and economic security.

“To properly manage historical disputes, we need to exert maximum effort,” Nagashima continued.

Nagashima advocated basic diplomatic principles, suggesting that both nations stop focusing on short-term interests and losses, respect past commitments, and courageously work to persuade the peoples of both countries. 

Nagashima’s remarks suggest that Japan will stick to the precedents set in apologies for historical wrongdoings provided by past Japanese prime ministers, such as the Kono Statement of 1993 and the Abe Statement of 2015. Furthermore, Tokyo is likely to expect Seoul to respect agreements made by the Yoon administration regarding third-party compensation for victims of forced mobilization.

By Park Min-hee, senior staff writer

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