Shinjiro Koizumi, the front-runner in the race to become Japan’s next prime minister, vowed to explore new opportunities to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without preconditions, stressing they are of the same generation.
Koizumi, 43, is the son of popular former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and a former environment minister. A survey last week showed he was the top choice for the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, out of nine candidates, to replace Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
“If I become prime minister, I would like to explore new opportunities to meet the North Korean leader without preconditions, without being bound by the approach taken so far, because we are of the same generation,” said Koizumi during a press conference last Friday, without elaborating.
Kim Jong Un’s exact age has not been officially disclosed, but it is believed that he was born in 1984, making him 40 this year.
Koizumi’s remarks were in response to questions about the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea over the years to help it train its spies. The issue is hugely emotive in Japan and a significant obstacle to any effort to normalize ties between the neighbors.
Japan says it has confirmed the abductions of 17 of its citizens by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s for language education for North Korean spies, and 12 are still in the North.
But the North has said that of the 12, eight had died, and four never entered North Korea, insisting that there is no issue to be resolved.
On other foreign policy issues, Koizumi said he would strengthen Japan’s alliance with the United States and expand a cooperation network with other like-minded nations to deter China’s growing influence.
“I will inherit the basic direction of the Kishida administration’s foreign and economic policies. Regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, we will continue to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance and deepen cooperation with Japan’s partners and countries that share our values,” he said without elaborating.
Kishida has been able to build a close relationship with South Korea after years of fraught relations, resuming a “shuttle diplomacy” policy of holding meetings on the fringes of international conferences and visiting each other as needed.
Their restored relations have also substantially enhanced trilateral security cooperation with the U.S., as all three of the allies warily watch North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and the missiles to carry them.
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Koizumi, known for his unconventional approach, has stood out as a fresh face in Japan’s fractious politics.
He has promised to change an “old-fashioned LDP” and accelerate reforms to revitalize Japan, including by making the job market more flexible, while supporting a revision of a 19th-century civil code requiring married couples to choose one of their surnames, which has led to most women adopting their husbands’ surnames.
Alongside Koizumi, leading the opinion polls is former Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba, 67, who is running in the leadership race for a fifth time.
Ishiba, a security and defense expert, has proposed an Asian version of the NATO military alliance, while supporting democracy in Taiwan, which China views as its own territory.
Ishiba promises to push for gender equality and measures to address Japan’s declining population.
The nine candidates and other LDP lawmakers will meet at the party headquarters in Tokyo for the vote on Sept. 27 to decide on its next president.
Since the LDP holds a parliamentary majority, the next party leader will become prime minister.
Edited by Mike Firn.