Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announces his decision to resign at a press conference in Tokyo on Aug. 28, 2020, citing a flare-up of the intestinal disease that led to his first resignation as premier in 2007. (Photo by Kyodo News/Sipa USA)
Japan: Japan PM Abe announces resignation due to flare-up of illness
TOKYO (AP) — Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, says he will resign because a chronic illness has resurfaced.
Concerns about Abe’s health began this summer and grew this month when he visited a Tokyo hospital two weeks in a row for unspecified health checkups. Abe has acknowledged having ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager and has said the condition was controlled with treatment.
Abe, whose term ends in September 2021, is expected to stay on until a new party leader is elected and formally approved by the parliament.
