Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wearing a face mask arrives at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on August 28, 2020. Photo: AFP / Kazuhiro NOGI
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely resign in a press conference on Friday, August 28, according to national broadcaster NHK.
NHK reported that Abe is leaning towards resigning from his position. Abe will hold a press conference from Tokyo at 5 p.m. local time to expand on his health and the current situation.
On Monday, August 24, Abe broke the record for the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japan, serving 2,799 days consecutively in office.
Also on Monday, Abe visited Keio University’s hospital for the second time in a week for a health check-up.
Abe has been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The illness prompted him to resign as prime minister in 2007, but he returned to the post in 2012.
According to NHK, Abe said that he doesn’t want his illness to cause any inconvenience.
At 2 p.m. on Friday, Abe was seen at a meeting in the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters for over 10 minutes with secretary Nikai Toshihiro and others, according to Asahi Shimbun.
Following the NHK report, Japan’s stock market fell and the yen strengthened.
This is a developing story.
