South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon will be heading to Japan tomorrow to attend the Japanese Emperor Naruhito's enthronement ceremony.<br />He's also set to hold brief talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, which is expected to give us some clues as to whether a summit between South Korea and Japan will be possible in the near future.<br />Oh Jung-hee reports.<br />Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon is heading to Japan for a three-day trip on Tuesday, to attend Japanese Emperor Naruhito's enthronement ceremony.<br />Later in the day, the PM will attend the dinner banquet and exchange greetings with the Japanese Emperor.<br />Then on Thursday, he'll sit down for a brief one-on-one with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.<br />Lee is expected to deliver a friendly message from President Moon, calling for deeper cooperation and more amicable bilateral ties.<br />Among South Korean politicians, Lee is regarded as a Japan expert, speaking fluent Japanese without the help of interpreters.<br />Once a Tokyo correspondent for a South Korean daily and later a member of the Korea-Japan lawmakers' union, Lee is known to be well-acquainted with political and economic leaders in Japan.<br />Once last year, Lee met with Emperor Naruhito.<br />"We had an opportunity to talk about a lot of things when we met at the World Water Forum in Brazil."<br />His ties with Prime Minister Abe date back even further.<br />"I remember drinking soju with him on a rainy weekend in Seoul when he came here in 2005 before becoming the Chief Cabinet Secretary."<br />If the Prime Minister's Japan trip proves successful, eyes will turn to the possibility of a summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.<br />That could happen naturally on the sidelines of the many international events taking place next month such as the ASEAN+3 summit in Thailand and the APEC summit in Chile.<br />Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.<br />
