Kishida, Japanese Prime Minister, to Also Serve as Foreign Minister for the Time Being

Motegi Toshimitsu Appointed as LDP Secretary-General by Foreign Minister
Prime Minister Kishida to Hold Concurrent Post Until Successor Is Decided
Kishida Previously Served as Foreign Minister in Abe's Second Cabinet

▲Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will concurrently serve as Foreign Minister until a successor to Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, who will assume the position of Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party on the 4th, is appointed.

According to NHK on the 4th, Prime Minister Kishida stated in an interview with reporters at the Prime Minister's Official Residence that he will hold the position of Foreign Minister until the next cabinet reshuffle.

Kishida will be elected as the 101st Prime Minister at the special Diet session convened on the 10th following the House of Representatives election held on the 31st of last month, and is expected to announce the cabinet reshuffle on the same day.

During this reshuffle, only the successor to Foreign Minister Motegi, who is moving to the position of Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party, will be appointed, while the other cabinet members are expected to remain in their posts.

This is because Kishida formed a new cabinet lineup when he took office as the 100th Prime Minister of Japan on the 4th of last month.

The period during which Kishida will concurrently serve as Foreign Minister is just over a week. He previously served as Foreign Minister for about 4 years and 8 months during Shinzo Abe's second administration.

In Japan, former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida (1878?1967) also concurrently held the position of Foreign Minister while serving as Prime Minister.

Japanese media reported that Yoshimasa Hayashi (60), former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, is emerging as a candidate to succeed Foreign Minister Motegi, while former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera is also being mentioned.

Regarding the one-month anniversary of his inauguration, Kishida said, "I have received the trust of the people through the general election," and added, "I will implement policies with a sense of urgency."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.