{"id":2206155,"date":"2024-08-15T08:00:27","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T23:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2206155"},"modified":"2024-08-14T16:49:43","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T07:49:43","slug":"japanese-prime-minister-wont-seek-reelection-amid-scandals-low-approval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/08\/japanese-prime-minister-wont-seek-reelection-amid-scandals-low-approval\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Prime Minister won\u2019t seek reelection amid scandals, low approval"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kantei.go.jp\/jp\/101_kishida\/statement\/2024\/0814kaiken.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">announced<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Wednesday he will not seek reelection in his party\u2019s leadership race next month, effectively stepping down amid record-low approval ratings of 15.5%. Kishida\u2019s decision follows sustained public criticism over his handling of two major scandals: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers\u2019 <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/news\/2023\/12\/07\/japan\/explainer\/explainer-ldp-political-funding-scandal\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">underreporting of funds<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including kickbacks and off-the-book revenue from ticket sales for fundraising parties, and the party\u2019s ties with the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nippon.com\/en\/japan-topics\/c12101\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unification Church<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During his three-year term, Kishida increased Japan\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.asahi.com\/ajw\/articles\/15093030\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">defense spending<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, strengthened <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/Releases\/Release\/Article\/3852146\/japan-united-states-republic-of-korea-trilateral-ministerial-joint-press-statem\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">security ties<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with the U.S. and improved relations with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/07\/south-korea-and-japan-revive-military-exchanges-and-cooperation\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Korea<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The LDP leadership race date will be set on Aug. 20. Kishida will remain party leader until the end of his term in September, stepping down when a new leader is elected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>WHY IT MATTERS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kishida\u2019s decision not to seek reelection will likely concern South Korea, as he has been a key partner for President Yoon Suk-yeol in improving Seoul-Tokyo relations. The two leaders have tackled sensitive issues such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/03\/south-korea-and-japan-agree-to-create-fund-to-resolve-wartime-forced-labor-issue\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wartime forced labor<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/08\/japan-to-release-fukushima-water-seoul-cautious-amid-domestic-criticism\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fukushima water release<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/08\/seoul-and-tokyo-boost-defense-ties-but-remain-vulnerable-to-political-winds\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2018 radar lock-on incident<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and increased <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/06\/freedom-edge-trilateral-exercise-looms-as-north-korea-russia-partnership-grows\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">trilateral military cooperation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with the U.S.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seoul will closely monitor Kishida\u2019s replacement to gauge the continuity of the current rapprochement. Despite the scandals, the next Japanese prime minister will likely emerge from the LDP, suggesting that ROK-Japan relations will continue to improve in the foreseeable future, even as the two countries engage in recurring diplomatic disputes over Dokdo and potential Japanese officials\u2019 visits to the Yasukuni shrine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Potential candidates who might seek to succeed Kishida include former defense minister <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/japan.kantei.go.jp\/97_abe\/cabinetlist2\/daijin\/ishiba_shigeru.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shigeru Ishiba<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, digital transformation minister <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/japan.kantei.go.jp\/101_kishida\/cabinetlist2\/daijin\/kono_e.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kono Taro<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and LDP secretary general <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/japan.kantei.go.jp\/97_abe\/meibo\/daijin\/motegi_toshimitsu.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Toshimitsu Motegi<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/defense-security\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Defense &amp; Security<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/inter-korean-foreign-relations\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Inter-Korean &amp; Foreign Relations<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Wednesday he will not seek reelection in his party\u2019s leadership race next month, effectively stepping down amid record-low approval ratings of 15.5%. Kishida\u2019s decision follows sustained public criticism over his handling of two major scandals: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers\u2019 underreporting of funds, including kickbacks and off-the-book revenue from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2206156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[26,28],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Japanese Prime Minister won\u2019t seek reelection amid scandals, low approval - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/08\/japanese-prime-minister-wont-seek-reelection-amid-scandals-low-approval\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japanese Prime Minister won\u2019t seek reelection amid scandals, low approval - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Wednesday he will not seek reelection in his party\u2019s leadership race next month, effectively stepping down amid record-low approval ratings of 15.5%. 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