Japan’s Vote for Abe Could Worsen Prospects for Peace With North Korea, China
NOVANEWS
By Nicole L. Freiner, The Conversation
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gambled by calling a snap election -- and he has won big.
Voters handed Abe's Liberal Democratic Party a sweeping victory in the Oct. 22 balloting for Japan's House of Representatives.
The call for the election came in late September after North Korea had just fired another test missile, with its longest delivery system yet. Over the past months, North Korea has tested six missiles, with each test either falling into the Japan Sea or passing over Japan to land in the Pacific. This latest missile flew over Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido before falling into the Pacific Ocean. North Korea's leader, Kim Jung Un, used strong threats after this missile test, saying that he hoped to see Japan sin...