Conservative set to be Japan’s next leader risks clashing with Lee Jae-myung, as nationalism endangers cooperation

Sanae Takaichi’s election as leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has set her up to become the next prime minister and introduced the most serious risk to Seoul-Tokyo relations in years, arriving just as both countries had settled into a rare phase of pragmatic cooperation.

Her nationalist background creates uncertainty about whether Japan will maintain the stable trajectory established under Shigeru Ishiba and Fumio Kishida.

Sanae Takaichi’s election as leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has set her up to become the next prime minister and introduced the most serious risk to Seoul-Tokyo relations in years, arriving just as both countries had settled into a rare phase of pragmatic cooperation.

Her nationalist background creates uncertainty about whether Japan will maintain the stable trajectory established under Shigeru Ishiba and Fumio Kishida.

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