Campaigning for the Oct. 27 Lower House election kicks off Tuesday, as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, just over two weeks after taking office on Oct. 1, puts the issue of trust in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party into the hands of voters.

Rocked by a political funds scandal that engulfed the party and led to the dissolution of most of its factions, the LDP faces its toughest election since 2012, when it ousted the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan — progenitor of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) — to retake control of the government.

The publicly unpopular Ishiba, who declared a snap election on Oct. 9, faces a difficult challenge in convincing skeptical voters that the party has cleaned house by deciding not to give party backing to a dozen lawmakers associated with the scandal. A Kyodo News poll taken over the weekend showed a 42% approval rate for the Ishiba administration, down from the 50.7% support recorded in a poll taken on Oct. 1 and 2 right after it was formed.

 

 

North Korea is threatening to blow up inter-Korean roads:

South Korea said Monday it has detected signs that North Korea is preparing to destroy the northern parts of inter-Korean roads no longer in use, as the rivals are embroiled in soaring tensions over North Korea’s claim that South Korea flew drones over its territory.

Destroying the roads would be in line with leader Kim Jong Un’s push to cut off ties with South Korea, formally cement it as his country’s principal enemy and abandon the North’s decades-long objective to seek a peaceful Korean unification.

In a highly derisive rhetoric, Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, called the South Korean military “dregs” and “mongrels tamed by Yankees.” She said Monday that “the master of those dogs,” an apparent reference to the U.S., must be held accountable for the alleged drone flights as well. South Korea and the U.S. had no immediate responses.

Earlier Monday, South Korea’s military said that it was observing various activities in North Korea that appeared to be preparations for demolishing the roads, such as installing screens.

“They have installed screens on the roads and are working behind those screens, preparing to blow up the roads,” Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a briefing. He said the demolitions could be carried out as early as Monday.

Lee said that the South Korean military believes that North Korea may carry out other provocations like a space rocket launch, which the U.N. views as a disguised test of long-range missile technology.

It’s not clear how much parts of the roads North Korea would destroy.

 

 

China threatens to attack Taiwan ... again:

Japan and the U.S. have condemned large-scale Chinese military exercises around Taiwan, after Beijing wrapped up the drills late Monday with a vow never to renounce the use of force to take control of the island — a hint that more shows of force are to come.

The daylong Joint Sword-2024B exercises, which took place in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan, were intended to serve as “a stern warning” to “separatist” forces, the Chinese military said.

China views democratic Taiwan as its “core of core issues” and regards the island as a renegade province that must be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

"We are willing to exert utmost sincerity and make every effort to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, nor will we leave any room for Taiwan independence," Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said Monday.

The drills, Wu warned, were not a repeat of the earlier Joint Sword-2024A war games China held in May, but rather an increase in pressure against Taiwan independence “provocations.”

More, he hinted, could follow.