In Japan’s ancient cultural city of Nara, a rather surreal event unfolded in mid-January. A stage usually reserved for rather mundane diplomatic events, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi invited South Korean President Lee Jae-myung to play drums with her. As the two Asian leaders hammered out a lively cover of “Golden” from K-Pop Demon Hunters, international media marveled at this “drumstick diplomacy.” This summit was highly unusual not only in its form but also geopolitically, shocking many analysts who believed that the hawkish, revisionist Takaichi and Lee, a progressive skeptical of U.S. and Japanese influence, would have avoided dialogue in such a close way.
Beneath the trendy beats of K-Pop is a deeper political motivation driven by survival, not shared values. With the second Trump administration espousing ever-increasing isolationist “America First” rhetoric and the looming specter of a fourth Taiwan crisis, Seoul and Tokyo have pivoted toward an increasingly transactional relationship. Usually, the conventional notion has been that America forced the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan to cooperate, but increasing U.S. policy uncertainty is drawing the two nations together out of necessity.
The Trump Factor
To understand why Lee and Takaichi, despite their hostile ideological and foreign policy rhetoric, have found common ground, one must look across the Pacific to the United States. Since the inauguration of Donald Trump in Jan. 2025, both nations’ trust in American security guarantees has fallen rapidly due to Trump’s “America First” approach. The implementation of universal baseline tariffs has damaged the export-reliant economies of both South Korea and Japan, and America’s renewed demand for exorbitant cost-sharing has further eroded trust between the Asian nations and America.
President Lee, elected in June 2025 on a progressive platform, has traditionally been skeptical of U.S. security. Similarly, Prime Minister Takaichi, despite her bombastic rhetoric, acknowledges that Japan cannot face China alone, while the U.S. retreats into a renewed isolationism. “Drumstick diplomacy” is a signal to Washington as much as it is to Beijing, saying, “if you leave us behind, we will find our own rhythm.”
Lee Jae-myung’s Realpolitik
The most surprising element of this summit is President Lee. As the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee was widely expected to chill relations with Japan, reversing the warming of ROK-Japan relations under his now-controversial predecessor, former prime minister Yoon Suk-yeol. During his campaign, Lee frequently called out the “subservient” diplomacy of the Yoon era, his anti-Japanese sentiment stemming from a 35-year-old colonial period.
However, Lee’s foreign policy has been increasingly focused on careful balancing amidst shifting geopolitical realities. Just days before arriving in Nara, Lee met with General Secretary Xi Jinping in Beijing, looking to separate South Korea’s economic ties to China from its security reliance on the West. Lee’s strategy is a pivot toward “middle power autonomy,” understanding the risks of security alienation by alienating Japan in the face of U.S. uncertainty.
By culturally engaging with Takaichi, Lee is performing a sort of “separation of church and state,” separating historical grievances from national necessities. Lee is betting that the South Korean public, exhausted by the political turmoil of Yoon’s impeachment, prefers supply chain security over salting old wounds. By appealing to younger generations, who are generally less hostile to Japan due to contemporary cross-cultural narratives, Lee is attempting to sway the opinions of his traditionally anti-Japanese support base.
Sanae Takaichi’s Dangerous Game
For Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the stakes are equally high. As the political protege of the late Shinzo Abe, Takaichi is the first female prime minister of Japan, known for her radical revisionist views on Japan’s imperial past and a hawkish stance on national defense. Her base would typically recoil at any dialogue or concessions to a progressive South Korean leader.
Takaichi’s foreign policy is mainly driven by the impending Taiwan issue – given her public declaration that a threat to Taiwan is an existential threat to Japan – and would warrant unconditional defense. With the Chinese People’s Liberation Army increasing drills around the Taiwan Strait, Takaichi views South Korean cooperation as an essential check on Chinese aggression and, to an extent, Japan’s existence. If Seoul declares neutrality and blocks U.S. usage of Korean bases for a Taiwan conflict, Japan’s southern flank is exposed.
Takaichi’s willingness to pick up the drumsticks is a red herring PR stunt. It softens her hard-right image globally while appealing for South Korean cooperation amid uncertainty for the new Korean government. It is a classic case of tatemae (public facade) masking honne (true intention), in which perceived cultural harmony is used as a tool for more strategic, cunning ends.
Despite the smiles in Nara, the likelihood of this new partnership continuing is questionable. A major risk of continued cooperation is differing policies on Taiwan; Takaichi has explicitly linked the security of Taiwan to the security of Japan, greatly angering the People’s Republic of China in the process. Lee, conversely, has maintained that South Korea must not be embroiled in a cross-strait conflict, a stance that aligns with his goal of maintaining good trade relations with China, being South Korea’s largest export partner at almost 20 percent. During the Nara summit, the joint statement was notably vague on Taiwan. Even as security cooperation between the two nations is strengthening, it remains to be seen how different long-term regional goals on cross-strait issues can be reconciled.
Outside of military cooperation, various cultural and historical wounds continue to plague ROK-Japan relations. While Lee has chosen pragmatism, Takaichi’s past visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, a shrine that venerates Japanese war criminals during World War II, as well as her comments on the disputed Dokdo islets, remain a trigger point for the South Korean public. The viral drumming video was a PR move, but it cannot erase the territorial disputes. If Takaichi moves to revise Japan’s Article 9 or makes a provocative comment regarding colonial history, Lee’s domestic voter base could easily force him to abandon this newfound detente. Though the Nara Summit proved that relations are on an improvement path, both Takaichi and Lee’s handling of sensitive cultural issues could make or break the trend of further cooperation.
A Transactional Future
The summit in Nara challenges the Western narrative that the “new Cold War” between the U.S. and China is driven by purely ideological factors. Despite South Korea and Japan both being vibrant democracies, only an increasingly unstable guarantor in the face of a hostile power could force the two nations to overcome their historical grievances
The drumming performance to BTS’s “Dynamite” was symbolic not of joy but of the increasing pressure building in the region. Lee and Takaichi are not friends by any means, but rather survivors in a weakening security framework. As the U.S. creates distance and China looms larger, the two neighbors have realized that their historical animosity is a luxury they can no longer afford.
Despite all, the summit has evidently shown the willingness of both Tokyo and Seoul to open dialogue in unique circumstances where the United States is more passive than ever, while China’s revanchist goals continue to mount pressure in the Asia-Pacific region. However, some skeptics of the partnership cite the pressures of a potential Taiwan crisis, old historical wounds, and U.S. tariffs as hepotential deal-breakers for the two historically rival nations. But for now, the geopolitical storm of U.S. uncertainty is forcing the two nations into the same shelter.
Featured Image Source: CNN