A surprising “ghost story” shared during a diplomatic visit between Sanae Takaichi and Lee Jae-myung has gone viral after the Japanese leader reportedly revealed she hears strange noises every night inside Japan’s official prime ministerial residence.
According to Japanese and South Korean media reports, Takaichi visited South Korea from May 19 to 20 and travelled to Andong in North Gyeongsang Province, the hometown of President Lee.
During an evening walk through a traditional Korean garden before an official dinner, Lee reportedly joked about the mountain-surrounded area by saying, “Places like this usually have ghosts.”
Takaichi then responded with a smile, saying that in Japan, ghosts usually appear at night and that the Japanese prime minister’s official residence was famous for being haunted.
She reportedly added that a former Japanese prime minister had once been assassinated there.
After hearing the translated remarks, Lee appeared visibly surprised while Takaichi continued describing the residence’s dark history using hand gestures.
Observers believe she was referring to the infamous 1932 “May 15 Incident”, in which former Japanese Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated by naval officers inside the residence.
Takaichi later stunned listeners further by claiming she hears “strange noises every night” since moving into the building.
However, she quickly softened the comment by suggesting the sounds could simply be due to the age of the old residence.
Lee reportedly burst into laughter after hearing the story and joked that it was the kind of tale he would never hear while casually walking around South Korea.
The atmosphere later became more relaxed, with Takaichi enthusiastically inviting Lee to visit Japan and enjoy hot springs together in the future.
The Japanese prime minister’s official residence, originally built in 1929, has long been associated with ghost stories and supernatural rumours due to its violent political history.
Apart from the assassination of Inukai Tsuyoshi, the residence was also attacked during the 1936 February 26 Incident, where several guards and relatives of then-prime minister Keisuke Okada were mistakenly killed during a military uprising.
Japanese media also revisited past paranormal claims involving former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
According to previous accounts, Mori once claimed he woke up in the middle of the night after hearing the sound of military boots marching toward his room inside the residence.
He reportedly rushed to open the door, only to find no one there.
The residence’s eerie reputation reportedly became so famous that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had refused to stay there during his second term.
Reports also claimed Takaichi herself initially delayed moving into the residence until political pressure mounted following criticism over her emergency response during a recent earthquake.
