Kishida to Visit U.S. in September; Expected to Play Role After Stepping Down as PM

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:53 JST, August 17, 2024

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to visit the United States late September to attend the 79th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, according to government sources.

Final arrangements are currently underway, the sources said. If the trip comes after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election, it will be a rare case in which an incumbent prime minister travels overseas after a new LDP president has been elected.

A meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, who has withdrawn from the ongoing U.S. presidential race, is also being arranged. The planned visit will likely give Kishida an opportunity to sum up his diplomatic activities.

A trip lasting a few days and starting on Sept. 22 is under consideration, according to the sources. If the LDP presidential election takes place on Sept. 20, Kishida would attend the U.N. meeting after a new LDP president has been elected.

The new prime minister would then be appointed at an extraordinary Diet session as early as Sept. 24, after the three-day weekend, which includes a national holiday.

If the LDP presidential election is held on Sept. 27, Kishida’s U.S. visit would come during the presidential race’s campaign period.

Former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga did not run in the LDP presidential election in September 2021 and visited the United States during the election’s campaign period.

During his trip, Suga attended a leaders’ meeting of the Quad nations — Japan, the United States, Australia and India. He also held separate talks with Biden. Instead of attending the U.N. General Assembly, Suga delivered a speech in a prerecorded video.

The upcoming U.N. meeting will give Kishida an opportunity to directly announce his resignation to global leaders who gather at the meeting.

“Kishida is expected to continue playing an active role in the diplomatic arena as a former prime minister,” said a senior Foreign Ministry official. “It’s meaningful for him to meet with leaders from around the world before stepping down as prime minister.”

Given the possibility that former U.S. President Donald Trump will make a comeback in the presidential election in November, some in the government believe that it would be better for Japan’s new prime minister not to get too close to Biden.