Overview
- After talks in Nara, the leaders donned matching jackets and drummed to BTS’s Dynamite and Golden from K‑Pop Demon Hunters in a video posted by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s office.
- Takaichi arranged the session after President Lee Jae Myung said at APEC that playing drums was his longtime dream, and both presented the moment as a gesture toward deeper cooperation.
- The summit set follow‑ups on security coordination, economic ties, supply chains and policing, plus a joint DNA effort to identify Korean victims from the 1942 Chosei undersea mine disaster in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
- Both governments committed to continue shuttle diplomacy through working‑level talks during sharpened Japan–China friction, including new Chinese curbs on rare‑earth exports to Japan.
- Lee visited Beijing days before Nara and is casting Seoul as a go‑between in regional tensions, while outside coverage notes speculation that Takaichi could call a February snap election.