Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday promised to proceed with education reform, rewrite the Constitution and ease income inequalities as he battles sagging popularity three months into office.
Abe said that he would work to restore public trust in the social welfare system after a series of scandals, consider changes to the taxation framework and step up efforts to narrow inequalities in income.
He reiterated his vow to build "a beautiful nation" and called on North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and to resolve a dispute over the kidnapping of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents in the Cold War era.
But Abe, who has seen a gradual decline in his approval ratings since taking office in September, stopped short of announcing any specific new policy initiatives at his first press conference of the year.
But he reiterated his resolve to draft a new constitution to replace the current post-World War II pacifist model.
"I believe we must show our resolve that we must draft a constitution that will fit the new era," he said, adding that the issue would be discussed further as Japan prepared for upper house elections scheduled for later this year.
Abe said the regional and global security environment had changed and emphasized the importance of the Japan-US alliance.
"To protect Japan's peace, independence, freedom and democracy and to protect lives of Japanese people, it becomes ever more important that we strengthen the Japan-US alliance," Abe said.
He said that Tokyo would consider ways to contribute further to global security following Japan's groundbreaking reconstruction mission to Iraq.
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