South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will start his first overseas tour since taking office in June by travelling to Tokyo on 23 August, an unprecedented move for a Korean leader ahead of a U.S. visit. He and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba are expected to institutionalise “shuttle diplomacy,” launch working-level talks on falling birth rates, and double the number of working-holiday visas, marking the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties. Lee then heads to Washington for a 25 August summit with President Donald Trump that Seoul bills as an effort to “modernise” the 70-year alliance. U.S. officials say Trump will renew calls for South Korea to shoulder a larger share of the cost of the 28,500 U.S. troops on the peninsula, using NATO burden-sharing levels as a reference. Seoul already contributes more than US$1 billion a year and spends about 3.5 % of GDP on defence, but Trump has previously floated figures as high as US$5–10 billion. The leaders will also formalise a July trade accord that lowered a proposed 25 % tariff on Korean goods to 15 % in exchange for a US$350 billion investment pledge and US$100 billion of U.S. liquefied natural-gas purchases. Officials on both sides say the White House talks will cover semiconductors, shipbuilding, artificial intelligence and new cooperation on civilian nuclear power. Lee is expected to press Trump to reopen stalled negotiations with Pyongyang and to discuss his three-stage plan aimed at freezing, reducing and ultimately dismantling North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac said Washington and Seoul have “basic consensus” on the approach, though details such as potential sanctions relief remain under discussion. The back-to-back summits highlight Lee’s shift toward what he calls “pragmatic diplomacy” at a time of U.S.–China rivalry and heightened uncertainty over the U.S. security commitment to Asia. Success or failure in Tokyo and Washington will set the tone for his presidency and for regional coordination on trade, defence and North Korea.