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South Korea’s Lee Hits the Road to Japan and the United States

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Asia Geopolitics | Diplomacy | Risk Intelligence | East Asia

South Korea’s Lee Hits the Road to Japan and the United States

What did Lee accomplish in Tokyo and Washington?

By Ankit Panda and Catherine Putz
August 28, 2025
South Korea’s Lee Hits the Road to Japan and the United States

U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral meeting with President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea in the Oval Office, Aug. 25, 2025.

Credit: Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok

The Diplomat’s Asia Geopolitics podcast hosts Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) and Katie Putz (@LadyPutz) discuss South Korea President Lee Jae-myung’s recent trips to Japan and the United States, the significance of his stopping off in Tokyo first, and how the Japan-South Korea-U.S. trilateral is working under a new diplomatic era in Washington.

If you’re an iOS or Mac user, you can also subscribe to The Diplomat’s Asia Geopolitics podcast on iTunes here; if you use Windows or Android, you can subscribe on Google Play here, or on Spotify here.

If you like the podcast and have suggestions for content, please leave a review and rating on iTunes and TuneIn. You can contact the hosts, Panda (here) and Putz (here).