Japan’s PM Interrupts Campaign As N Korea Test-Fires Missile

Japan’s new prime minister interrupted his first day of election campaigning and returned to Tokyo on Tuesday to deal with rising regional tensions following North Korea’s test-firing of a missile earlier in the day.

Fumio Kishida’s campaign was already off to a rocky start with media polls showing his support rating sliding.

Tuesday was the first official day of campaigning for nationwide legislative elections scheduled for Oct. 31.

Kishida, a former foreign minister from Hiroshima, was previously considered dovish and advocated a nuclear weapons ban.

He has increasingly turned hawkish, apparently to gain support from conservative heavyweights within his governing Liberal Democratic Party, including former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He has called for bolstering Japan’s defense budget and capabilities.

Kishida was informed of the missile launch after his opening campaign speech in Fukushima, where a nuclear plant was destroyed by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

After another speech in the nearby city of Sendai, he canceled the remainder of his itinerary in the region.

Kishida became prime minister in early October shortly after winning his conservative party’s leadership contest.

He dissolved the lower house of Japan’s two-chamber Diet, or parliament, last Friday and called new elections, saying he wanted a mandate from the public for his new government.

Kishida said he aims for the Liberal Democrats and their junior partner, Komeito, to win a majority of seats in the 465-member chamber.