Fumio Kishida recently became Japan’s 100th prime minister, and his election has kick-started debate about whether the new leader will inaugurate a different era in relations between Tokyo and the two Koreas.
Japan has a dominant-party system, but the factions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) are roughly analogous to parties in more conventional democracies. When it comes to foreign policy issues, Kishida belongs to the “doves” who have demonstrated significant interest in the Korean Peninsula, unlike his hawkish predecessors.
Fumio Kishida recently became Japan’s 100th prime minister, and his election has kick-started debate about whether the new leader will inaugurate a different era in relations between Tokyo and the two Koreas.
Japan has a dominant-party system, but the factions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s (LDP) are roughly analogous to parties in more conventional democracies. When it comes to foreign policy issues, Kishida belongs to the “doves” who have demonstrated significant interest in the Korean Peninsula, unlike his hawkish predecessors.
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Justin Hyun-jun Yeo is a research assistant to Professor Andrei Lankov at Kookmin University in Seoul. His areas of expertise include ROK domestic politics and Korea-Japan relations, as well as international relations in East Asia.