Blue House Responds to News Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Will Step Down for Health Reasons
It will be interesting to see if a new Japanese prime minister will lead to better relations between Japan and South Korea. Shinzo Abe has been a useful boogeyman for the Korean left for many years:
Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said Friday he intends to step down because a chronic health problem has resurfaced. He told reporters that it was ”gut wrenching” to leave so many of his goals unfinished.
Korea Times
Abe has had ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager and has said the condition was controlled with treatment. Concerns about Abe’s health began this summer and grew this month when he visited a Tokyo hospital two weeks in a row for unspecified health checkups. He is now on a new treatment that requires IV injections, he said. While there is some improvement, there is no guarantee that it will cure his condition and so he decided to step down after treatment Monday, he said.
”It is gut wrenching to have to leave my job before accomplishing my goals,” Abe said Friday, mentioning his failure to resolve the issue of Japanese abducted years ago by North Korea and a territorial dispute with Russia.
You can read more at the link, but here is what the Blue House had to say about this news:
South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s office said Abe dedicated many years to the development of bilateral relations and achieved ”various meaningful accomplishments” as Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. It said Seoul will continue to work with Tokyo’s next prime minister and Cabinet to promote ”friendship and cooperation” between the countries. Relations between South Korea and Japan sank to their lowest point in decades last year as they feuded over trade issues, wartime history and military cooperation.
Korea Times
It is interesting that the Blue House mentions “meaningful accomplishments” when they have worked hard to undo those accomplishments such as the comfort women reconciliation agreement as well as bilateral defense agreements.
