Japanese PM considering visiting Lee's hometown for summit on May 19: Kyodo

▲ South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (R) walks alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at a Buddhist temple in Nara, located on Japan's main island of Honshu, in this file photo taken Jan. 14. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

Japanese PM-S Korea visit

Japanese PM considering visiting Lee's hometown for summit on May 19: Kyodo

SEOUL, May 9 (Yonhap) -- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is considering visiting South Korea later this month and holding summit talks with President Lee Jae Myung in his hometown of Andong, Japanese media outlets said Saturday, citing diplomatic sources.

Japan's Kyodo News and other media outlets reported that Takaichi is expected to visit South Korea on May 19 for a two-day trip and hold summit talks with Lee in Andong, about 190 kilometers southeast of Seoul, about economic security cooperation, including energy and critical mineral supply chains amid the Middle East conflict.

Takaichi last visited South Korea in October, just nine days after she took office, and held a summit with Lee on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the southeastern city of Gyeongju.

In January, Lee visited Japan and held a summit in Takaichi's hometown of Nara Prefecture.

The exchange of visits is part of "shuttle diplomacy" efforts between the two neighboring nations.

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