Fresh from China, S Korea president to visit Japan

SEOUL, Jan 09 (AFP): South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung will travel to Japan next week for talks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Seoul said Friday, days after meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The visit to Takaichi's picturesque hometown of Nara on Tuesday and Wednesday follows major Chinese military drills around Taiwan, and North Korea firing ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.
Tokyo and Beijing are also embroiled in a diplomatic spat triggered by Takaichi's suggestion in November that Japan could intervene militarily if China attacks Taiwan.
Lee and Takaichi, who both took office in 2025, last met in October on the sidelines of the APEC summit in the South Korean city of Gyeongju. This will be Lee's second visit to Japan since last August, when he met Takaichi's predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba.
The South Korean leader will hold a summit meeting and dinner with Takaichi in Nara on Tuesday.