Kishida: "US Vice President, Canadian and Indian Prime Ministers to Attend Abe's State Funeral"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] A partial list of foreign dignitaries attending the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, scheduled for the 27th, has been released.

According to the Asahi Shimbun on the 9th, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida appeared before the House of Representatives the previous day and stated, "U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and Charles Michel, President of the European Union (EU) Council, are expected to attend," the report said.

Prime Minister Kishida said, "We will hold intensive talks with dignitaries visiting Japan and demonstrate both domestically and internationally our determination to properly inherit and develop the diplomatic legacy created by former Prime Minister Abe."

The previous day, as domestic opposition to the state funeral increased, Kishida explained, "Former Prime Minister Abe served the longest term in constitutional history and left significant achievements."

The Japanese government recently announced that the state funeral for former Prime Minister Abe, to be held at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on the 27th, is expected to cost a total of 1.66 billion yen (approximately 16.2 billion KRW), including venue rental and security expenses.

The Japanese government anticipates about 6,000 attendees at the state funeral for former Prime Minister Abe.

The South Korean government plans to dispatch a condolence delegation consisting of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and National Assembly Deputy Speaker Chung Jin-suk, among others.