Fukuda Yasuo, former Japanese prime minister who prioritized 'Asian diplomacy,' dies at 90

【Financial News Tokyo correspondent Seo Hyejin】Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who worked to improve relations with Asian countries including South Korea and China, has died at the age of 90.
Kyodo News and the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the 26th that the Liberal Democratic Party said Fukuda died of heart failure at a Tokyo hospital on the 22nd.
Fukuda served as prime minister for about a year, from September 2007 to September 2008. The son of former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, he became the first member of a father-son pair to serve as Japan’s prime minister.
Fukuda was regarded as one of the LDP’s leading doves and placed importance on building trust with neighboring Asian countries. One well-known anecdote is that, shortly after taking office as prime minister, he responded to reporters asking whether he would visit Yasukuni Shrine by asking, “Why do we need to do something the other side dislikes?”
In 2008, Fukuda agreed with then Chinese President Hu Jintao, who was visiting Japan, to develop a “strategic, mutually beneficial relationship.” At a summit with then South Korean President Lee Myung-bak that same year, Fukuda emphasized building future-oriented relations between South Korea and Japan.
Even after retiring from politics, Fukuda served as a bridge to improve China-Japan relations. He traveled to China in 2014 and met President Xi Jinping, and was credited with laying the groundwork for a summit between then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Xi.
Fukuda entered politics after first winning election to the House of Representatives in 1990, at age 53, in the former Gunma No. 3 constituency. He was subsequently elected seven consecutive times and first entered the Cabinet in 2000, serving as chief cabinet secretary in the Yoshiro Mori Cabinet. He retired from politics without running in the 2012 House of Representatives election.

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