PRES. LEE TO EMBARK ON JAPAN, U.S. TRIPS

The Presidential Office here has shared details of the president's upcoming agenda in neighboring Japan and over in the U.S. as we count down less than 24 hours to the start of his diplomatic engagements.

Title: PRES. LEE TO EMBARK ON JAPAN, U.S. TRIPS

Hello and welcome.

You're watching Press Perspective for this Friday August 22nd here in Seoul.

I'm Min Sunhee.

President Lee Jae Myung is scheduled to depart for Tokyo Saturday morning for his first BILATERAL diplomatic engagements starting in Tokyo and ending in Washington, D.C.

For more I have Kelly Kasulis Cho with American daily The Washington Post.

Kelly it's great to have you here.

I also have Walter Sim with Singaporean daily The Straits Times over in Tokyo.

Walter as always it's a pleasure.

Kelly, President Lee Jae Myung is heading to Tokyo tomorrow for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Now ahead of this summit, he shared his thoughts regarding bilateral ties with Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun.

What did he say, and what are your takeaways?

And Walter, what has been the response in Japan to these remarks by the South Korean president?

Do you believe they've served to set a positive tone for productive ties amid geopolitical uncertainty over U.S. trade and security policies?

Staying in Japan, Walter.

Recent remarks shared by Prime Minister Ishiba regarding World War II also made headlines.

Do tell us more.

And back here in South Korea, Kelly, what has been the response to those remarks by Mr. Ishiba?

Walter, South Korea and the U.S. are slated to hold a summit next Monday, and on the agenda are tariffs and trade among other issues of bilateral interest.

This being said, what is the latest with regard to Japan's trade talks with the U.S.?

Kelly, President Lee Jae Myung sat down with corporate heavyweights earlier this week to hammer out a strategy for his trade talks with Mr. Trump.

What can you tell us about this gathering and its implications?

Walter, beyond trade, President Lee Jae Myung and his U.S. host Donald Trump are also expected to engage in security talks, which of course, are relevant to Japan as well as we share a backyard, if you will.

Speaking as a foreign correspondent based here in this part of the world, what might the South Korean leader be aiming to achieve and hoping to avoid during his security talks with his American counterpart?

Kelly, staying with security.

South Korea's peace overtures toward North Korea continued to be condemned by Kim Yo-jong.

Do you suppose this is a strategic attempt to secure leverage before any tangible cross-border engagement?

I mean, what are your takeaways?

All right.

And that ends this week's editions of Press Perspective.

Thank you for watching.

Have a great weekend and see you same time next Monday.