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Japan’s New PM Ishiba Unveils Cabinet Ahead of Snap Election

Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on October 1, 2024. (AFP)
Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on October 1, 2024. (AFP)
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Japan’s New PM Ishiba Unveils Cabinet Ahead of Snap Election

Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on October 1, 2024. (AFP)
Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on October 1, 2024. (AFP)

Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday unveiled his cabinet as he seeks to heal party divisions and secure a national mandate with an Oct. 27 snap election.

The 67-year-old former defense minister, who last week won a close-fought contest to lead the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), was confirmed earlier in the day as prime minister by parliament.

He is scheduled to hold his first press conference later in the day in Tokyo.

The Ishiba administration's approach to diplomacy with Japan's closest ally, the United States, will be in focus, as he has repeatedly called for a more balanced relationship with Washington.

He has also proposed creating an Asian version of the collective security group NATO to deter China, an idea that could draw ire from Beijing and has already been dismissed by a senior US official as hasty.

Ishiba must quell simmering anger over rising living costs and his scandal-plagued party, and navigate a volatile security environment in East Asia fueled by an increasingly assertive China and nuclear-armed North Korea.

The veteran lawmaker, seen as somewhat of a party outsider who failed at four previous leadership bids, has named a mixture of rivals and allies to cabinet posts.

It includes two leadership rivals in key positions, Katsunobu Kato as finance minister and Yoshimasa Hayashi to stay on as chief cabinet secretary, a post that includes the role of top government spokesman, the government announced.

Kato's appointment to the finance ministry will be closely watched given he served in key positions in former premier Shinzo Abe's administration, which pursued expansionary fiscal and monetary policies.

The Nikkei stock index fell nearly 5% on Monday in reaction to a surging yen following Ishiba's win over Sanae Takaichi, a monetary dove and fiscal expansionist, in Friday's leadership contest. The index recovered ground on Tuesday.

A close Ishiba ally, Takeshi Iwaya, a former defense chief, will take over as foreign minister, while Gen Nakatani will return to the defense ministry, a position he held in 2016. Yoji Muto, a former junior minister, will take charge at the economy, trade and industry ministry.

In his victory speech on Friday, he spoke about the need to beef up Japan's security after recent territorial incursions by Chinese and Russian military vessels.

OUTSIDE THE TENT

Five of the lawmakers who contested the leadership race with him have not been included in his government nor given key party jobs.

Among them is Takaichi, a hardline conservative he beat by 215 votes to 194 on Friday in the closest leadership election in almost seven decades. Local media reported she had declined a senior party post.

That could make it difficult for Ishiba, a perennial favorite in public opinion polls, to manage a fractious ruling group roiled by scandals including unrecorded donations at fundraising parties.

Yoshihiko Noda, the leader of the largest opposition party the Constitutional Democratic party of Japan, said it planned to attack the LDP over its scandals in the upcoming election.

"We cannot establish proper governance through a pseudo-regime change," Noda said on public broadcaster NHK.

But despite its troubles, the party which has ruled Japan for most of the post-war era remains likely to hold on to power in the upcoming election given Japan's weak opposition.

A third of respondents to a weekend poll by the Mainichi newspaper said they supported the LDP, versus 15% for the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

More than half of the respondents, including those who supported opposition parties, said they were optimistic about Ishiba's appointment.

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South Korea Unveils Its Most Powerful Missile, Which Could Reach North Korea’s Underground Bunkers

South Korean's Hyunmoo ballistic missiles (L) and Long-range surface-to-air guided missiles (L-Sam) (R), march, during the 76th Armed Forces Day on the main street in Seoul, South Korea, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
South Korean's Hyunmoo ballistic missiles (L) and Long-range surface-to-air guided missiles (L-Sam) (R), march, during the 76th Armed Forces Day on the main street in Seoul, South Korea, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
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South Korea Unveils Its Most Powerful Missile, Which Could Reach North Korea’s Underground Bunkers

South Korean's Hyunmoo ballistic missiles (L) and Long-range surface-to-air guided missiles (L-Sam) (R), march, during the 76th Armed Forces Day on the main street in Seoul, South Korea, 01 October 2024. (EPA)
South Korean's Hyunmoo ballistic missiles (L) and Long-range surface-to-air guided missiles (L-Sam) (R), march, during the 76th Armed Forces Day on the main street in Seoul, South Korea, 01 October 2024. (EPA)

South Korea unveiled its most powerful ballistic missile and other weapons targeting North Korea during a massive Armed Forces Day ceremony Tuesday, as the South's president warned the North's regime would collapse if it attempts to use nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s weapons displays and warning against North Korea came after its northern rival recently rose regional animosities by disclosing its uranium-enrichment facility and tested missiles ahead of the US presidential election in November.

"If North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face the resolute and overwhelming response of our military and the (South Korea)-US alliance," President Yoon Suk Yeol told thousands of troops gathered at a military airport near Seoul. "That day will be the end of the North Korean regime."

"The North Korean regime must abandon the delusion that nuclear weapons will protect them," Yoon said.

During the ceremony, the South Korean military displayed about 340 military equipment and weapons systems. Among them was its most powerful Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile, which observers say is capable of carrying an 8-ton conventional warhead that can penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers in North Korea. It was the first time for South Korea to disclose that missile.

The US flew a long-range B-1B bomber during the ceremony in an apparent demonstration of its security commitment to its Asian ally. South Korea also flew some of its most advanced fighter jets.

Later Tuesday, South Korea will parade its troops and weapons through the streets of Seoul, the capital, as part of efforts to boost military morale and demonstrate its deterrence capabilities against potential North Korean aggressions.

Also Tuesday, South Korea launched its strategic command that officials say integrates South Korea’s conventional capabilities with US nuclear weapons. South Korea has no nuclear weapons.

Since taking office in 2022, Yoon, a conservative, has put a stronger military alliance with the US and an improved trilateral Seoul-Washington-Tokyo security cooperation at the center of his security polices to cope with North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.

In recent years, North Korea has performed a provocative of missile tests and threatened to use nuclear weapons preemptively in potential conflicts with South Korea and the United States.

Last month, concerns about North Korea’s bomb program further grew after it published photos of a secretive facility to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. It was North Korea’s first unveiling of a uranium-enrichment facility since it showed one at the country’s main Yongbyon nuclear complex to visiting American scholars in 2010.

South Korean officials say North Korea will likely try to further dial up tensions with provocative weapons tests ahead of the US election to increase its leverage in future diplomacy with a new US government. Experts say North Korea likely thinks an expanded nuclear arsenal would help it win bigger US concessions like extensive sanctions relief.

Earlier Tuesday, North Korea’s vice defense minister, Kim Kang Il, slammed the US for its temporary deployments of powerful military assets to South Korea and vowed strong responses. He cited the recent visit of a US nuclear-powered submarine and Tuesday's B-1B flyover.

Kim threatened to bolster North Korea's "powerful war deterrent," an apparent reference to its nuclear capability, and take unspecified steps to stoke security concerns to the security of the US mainland. Observers say his comments implies North Korea may consider test-firing an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the US mainland.