[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to declare resolving the issue of Japanese abductees by North Korea as one of his national agenda items.
According to Kyodo News on the 7th, Prime Minister Kishida will express the importance of resolving the issue of Japanese abductees by North Korea in his first policy speech scheduled at the National Diet on the 8th. It is reported that the original draft of the speech includes content stating that the Kishida Cabinet will make efforts to resolve the abduction issue.
The Kishida administration, like the administrations of Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga, is expected to define the Japan-US alliance as the core axis of its diplomacy and align with the US in its containment of China.
Accordingly, in his speech, Prime Minister Kishida is expected to express his view that he will strongly promote the concept of a "free and open Indo-Pacific" based on the Japan-US alliance, and strongly urge China to act responsibly.
He is also expected to announce plans to revise the National Security Strategy (NSS), the framework for foreign and security policy, according to Sankei Shimbun citing sources on the 7th.
Amid repeated missile launches by North Korea recently, attention is focused on whether the Prime Minister will reflect the possession of enemy base strike capabilities, which he identified as a "prominent option," in the National Security Strategy.
He is also reported to express his intention to revise the "Outline of Defense Programs," a basic guideline for security policy prepared with a period of about 10 years in mind, and the "Mid-Term Defense Program," a five-year policy based on it.
Representing Hiroshima City, where the atomic bomb was dropped at the end of World War II, Prime Minister Kishida will also express his commitment to striving for the realization of a nuclear-free world.
The policy speech will cover major policy tasks and national governance directions, and attention will also be paid to what views Prime Minister Kishida will express regarding Japan-South Korea relations.
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