Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has died age 67 after being shot during a speech on Friday in Nara, Japan, doctors who were treating him have confirmed.
Abe died from excessive bleeding and the bullet that killed him was “deep enough to reach his heart,” doctors at Nara Medical University said in a news conference. Two shots can be heard in video footage of the assassination.
Police have arrested a man in his 40s in connection with the shooting and retrieved what appeared to be a homemade gun, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Abe was the longest-serving Japanese Prime Minister in history. He stepped down as leader in 2020, citing health reasons.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol: Abe’s assassination is “an unacceptable criminal act”
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed his shock and sorrow for the death of Shinzo Abe in a statement released by the presidential office late Friday afternoon.
“I extend my condolences to the bereaved family and the Japanese people who have lost the longest-serving Prime Minister and a respected politician in the history of Japan’s constitution,” President Yoon said, according to the statement.
“The shooting that killed Prime Minister Abe is an unacceptable criminal act.”
Foreign leaders extend condolences to Japan: “We mourn with you”
The news of Shinzo Abe’s assassination has prompted messages of shock and condolences from foreign leaders, many of whom worked with Abe during the former Prime Minister’s long tenure.
“His global leadership through unchartered times will be remembered by many,” wrote British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a tweet. “My thoughts are with his family, friends and the Japanese people. The UK stands with you at this dark and sad time.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan also
tweeted his condolences, calling the shooting “an attack on democracy” and “a shameful act of cowardice to silence a political leader.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that as a mark of “our deepest respect,” India will hold a day of national mourning on Saturday. Abe was “a towering global statesman, an outstanding leader, and a remarkable administrator,” said Modi, adding that his relationship with Abe “goes back many years.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Abe had been a “great friend and ally to Australia,” and told the people of Japan, “We mourn with you.”
European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Abe “a wonderful person,” adding: “This brutal and cowardly murder of Shinzo Abe shocks the whole world.”
Shinzo Abe was born into a family of Japanese Prime Ministers
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was born on September 21, 1954, in Tokyo, to a prominent political family. Both his grandfather and great uncle served as prime minister, and his father was a former secretary general of the right-leaning Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
He studied politics at Tokyo’s Seiki University and the University of Southern California, but initially entered business, taking a position with Kobe Steel in 1979. Three years later, he became an assistant to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Abe was first elected to Japan’s House of Representatives in 1993, at age 38. He held a number of cabinet positions throughout the 2000s, and in 2003 became secretary general of the LDP. Four years later, he was named the party’s president and became prime minister of Japan.
His first term was marred by controversies and worsening health, and he stepped down as party leader and prime minister in 2007. The end of Abe’s first term opened a revolving door in which five different men held the prime minister post in five years until his re-election in 2012. He stepped down in 2020 citing ill health.
Abe died on Friday age 67 after being shot in Nara.
-CNN
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