Overview

• Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announced that Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will be in New York on Sept. 23–25 to attend the UN General Assembly.
• Ishiba is slated to deliver a general debate speech and hold one-on-one meetings with other leaders during the UN session marking the organization’s 80th year.
• Multiple diplomatic sources report Tokyo and Seoul are arranging a Sept. 30–Oct. 1 visit to Busan for talks with President Lee Jae‑myung, though no formal announcement has been made.
• The Busan trip would be Ishiba’s first visit to South Korea as prime minister and is expected to be his final overseas travel before he steps down ahead of the Oct. 4 LDP leadership vote.
• Officials frame the prospective Busan meeting as part of institutionalizing shuttle diplomacy, building on the leaders’ August agreement to launch interagency talks on low birthrate and regional revitalization.