Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan (left) shakes hands with President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea (right) ahead of their expanded summit meeting in Andong, South Korea, on May 19, 2026. (pool photo)
During a summit Tuesday, the leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed to boost cooperation on crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to stabilize energy supply chains disrupted by the protracted conflict in the Middle East.Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held a joint press conference following their meeting in Lee’s hometown of Andong, in North Gyeongsang Province.“We have agreed to greatly strengthen cooperation on the key energy resources of crude oil and LNG based on an LNG supply arrangement reached in March. That will involve sharing information related to the supply and storage of crude oil and expanding channels of communication,” Lee said in the statement.The Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) reached a supply contract with JERA, Japan’s largest LNG firm, in March.Takaichi said that she and Lee had agreed to start with bilateral cooperation in two main areas: strengthening energy supply resilience with stockpiling, and swaps and mutual supply of LNG, crude oil and petroleum products.“A concrete action plan for the mutual supply and swaps of crude oil and petroleum products will be announced following deliberation between industry officials from our two countries,” said Kang Yu-jung, a spokesperson for the Blue House.Lee and Takaichi also discussed Korean Peninsula issues.“I explained my administration’s position of building a peaceful Korean Peninsula where conflict is unnecessary — a peninsula where South and North can coexist peacefully and grow together,” Lee said.“We discussed our response to North Korea, including its nuclear weapon and missile programs. We reaffirmed that Korea and Japan will coordinate our response both bilaterally and trilaterally with the US,” Takaichi said.This is the two leaders’ fourth meeting, following their summit on Jan. 13-14 in Takaichi’s hometown of Nara Prefecture.By Seo Young-ji, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
