Attention Drawn to the Occurrence of a Shooting Incident in Japan
[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyeon-jin] Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot during an election support campaign on the 8th, fell into cardiac arrest, and ultimately died. Foreign media such as AP News and CNN quickly reported the news. The foreign media highlighted Abe's achievements while noting that his greatest dream of constitutional revision was not realized, and also focused on the shocking incident occurring in Japan, where gun use is prohibited.
The foreign media promptly reported from the moment Abe was shot with a shotgun during the election support campaign that morning, collapsed, and was transported to the hospital in cardiac arrest. They prominently featured articles and photos on their homepage main pages, delivering news coming out of Japan in detail.
Despite medical measures taken at the hospital, former Prime Minister Abe died at 5:03 PM. Medical staff at Nara Prefectural Medical University Hospital, where Abe was treated, explained that there were injuries to two places on his neck and his heart caused by the gunshot wounds, saying "it was difficult to save him." Foreign media reported that the police arrested Tetsuya Yamagami (41), a resident of Nara City, on suspicion of attempted murder at the scene and confiscated the gun he possessed.
The foreign media reported that Abe was Japan's longest-serving prime minister and covered his past records and achievements. BBC reported that until his resignation in September 2020 due to health reasons, he pursued hawkish policies in defense and diplomacy, showed long-standing interest in constitutional revision, and pushed forward the economic policy "Abenomics," centered on aggressive fiscal expansion, unlimited monetary easing, and corporate innovation.
However, in this process, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) described Abe as "a figure who created division" as he strengthened the military and attempted constitutional revision. AP mentioned that when Abe stepped down as prime minister, he referred to unfinished policies such as the issue of North Korea's abduction of Japanese citizens, territorial disputes with Russia, and constitutional revision, evaluating that these final goals were major reasons he became "a figure who created division." It also added that his relations with South Korea and China were poor.
The New York Times (NYT) described Abe as someone who "made it his political mission to defeat Japan's wartime ghosts," and reported that while he helped solve economic problems, he did not achieve his greatest goal of making Japan a country with normal military capabilities (strengthening defense).
The foreign media also focused on the fact that a shooting incident occurred in Japan. AP reported, "This shooting incident is shocking as it happened in Nara (Japan), one of the safest countries in the world with very strict legal regulations on firearms." BBC also reported, "Gunshot incidents are rare in Japan, where handguns are banned, and political violence itself is almost unprecedented." CNN said, "Due to extremely strict gun control, the gun accident rate is very low in Japan, making this incident shocking."
Bloomberg reported, "Gun incidents and assassination attempts are rare in Japan, but former Prime Minister Abe would have known a little more about the risks related to this," mentioning that his maternal grandfather, former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, was nearly assassinated in 1960, when he was stabbed multiple times in the thigh outside the official residence.
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