Nipponica

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday during his first visit to Japan since taking office, and the two leaders agreed to advance bilateral relations in a future-oriented manner.

Lee’s decision to visit Japan before visiting the United States, Seoul’s ally, for bilateral diplomacy is highly unusual. In fact, it has not previously happened in the 60 years since Japan and South Korea normalized diplomatic relations.

It is abundantly clear that East Asian powers should rely on each other rather than forces overseas. The fact that Japan and the RoK are meeting so close to the anniversary of the independence of Korea is symbolic and hopefully a sign of thawing relations to come

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday vowed to seek forward-looking, mutually beneficial cooperation with Japan while calling on the neighboring country to "squarely face up to" the "long and fraught" history the two countries share.

Speaking at a ceremony in Seoul to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of Japan's colonial rule, Lee said Japan is "an indispensable partner," though "unresolved" historical issues still leave some South Koreans suffering, without detailing such issues as forced labor during the colonial period.

In his first such Liberation Day speech since taking office in June, Lee pledged to hold frequent meetings and "frank dialogues" with Japan through "shuttle diplomacy" involving reciprocal visits by the two leaders, ahead of his two-day visit to Tokyo starting Saturday to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

The usual issues still being pushed by the new RoK government but hopefully their pledge to continue diplomacy will move relations forward as the world reshapes itself.

Nongshim, the South Korean food company known for its Shin Ramyun instant noodle brand, opened a Shin Ramyun Bunsik pop-up shop in June that will last for a year. "Bunsik" is Korean for "food made from flour" and commonly refers to inexpensive Korean dishes like ramen and tteokbokki simmered rice cakes.

Housed in the Okudo Dining & Cafe on trendy Takeshita-dori Street, the Korean-style noodle bar is operated by sales subsidiary Nongshim Japan and aims to attract Japanese women and visitors from abroad. In its instagrammable interior, customers can cook noodles, sold in plastic bags, using automated cookers. After setting the timers on the cookers, hot water pours into the dedicated bowls, which are being warmed at the same time.

Interested that they are focusing on 'Japanese women and visitors from abroad'. Are Japanese men too close-minded to try Korean food?

The South Korean Air Force said Friday that a transport aircraft bound for Guam urgently landed at the U.S. Air Force's Kadena base in Okinawa Prefecture on July 13 as it ran out of fuel.

The South Korean military transport aircraft is believed to have entered Japan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) without prior notice, causing the Air Self-Defense Force aircraft to scramble.

I'm far from an expert on fuel consumption but this must have been quite the diversion to force a landing at Kadena. Someone fucked up in a big way here.