S.Korean president arrives in Japan for summit talks with Premier Takaichi

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung arrived in Japan on Tuesday for a two-day visit to hold summit talks with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, according to media reports.

President Lee landed in Nara province, Prime Minister Takaichi's home region, where he will remain for two days, Yonhap News reported.

The trip marks Lee's second visit to Japan following his visit last August for talks with Takaichi's predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, and his third meeting with Takaichi since she took office in October.

Takaichi also visited South Korea in late October to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Gyeongju, during which she met with Lee.

Lee's visit comes days after his trip to China for summit talks with President Xi Jinping, amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Tokyo following Takaichi's remarks on Taiwan.

China-Japan relations have deteriorated since November, when Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could legally constitute a "survival-threatening situation," potentially allowing Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense.

The remarks prompted strong backlash from Beijing, which advised Chinese citizens against travel to Japan and reinstated a ban on Japanese seafood imports, among other measures.

Ahead of his visit, President Lee said that Seoul's relations with Tokyo are as important as its ties with Beijing, adding that tensions over Taiwan are not an issue South Korea would "engage in or intervene in."

During the meeting, South Korea's ban on seafood imports from eight Japanese provinces is also expected to be discussed, as Tokyo has long called on Seoul to lift the restrictions imposed in 2013 over radiation concerns following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.