A new coalition government is being formed with the Yushin Party, which shares similar political views. Concerns are raised that the Yushin Party's decision to not join the cabinet will weaken cooperative relations.

A new cabinet was launched today, with LDP presidential contenders filling key positions in a bid to promote unity.

With a minority party in power, governance is unlikely to be smooth. Attention is also being paid to whether Korea-Japan relations will be turbulent.

(Tokyo = Yonhap News) Correspondent Park Sang-hyun = Sanae Takaichi, the president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party known for her hard-line conservative tendencies, was elected as the new prime minister on the 21st.

Prime Minister Takaichi received 237 votes out of 465, exceeding the majority (233 votes) in the first round of voting for the prime ministerial nomination held at the plenary session of the House of Representatives (lower house) of the extraordinary session of the Diet that afternoon.

In the House of Councillors (Upper House), he received 123 votes in the first round, one vote short of a majority, and was nominated as Prime Minister in a runoff election against Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party. The runoff vote total was 125.

Prime Minister Takaichi is the 104th prime minister since Japan introduced the cabinet system in 1885 and Hirobumi Ito became the first prime minister, and the first female prime minister in the 140-year history of the cabinet system.

He officially launched the new cabinet after receiving his letter of appointment from Emperor Naruhito on this day.

Prime Minister Takaichi plans to appoint former Defense Minister Minoru Kihara as Chief Cabinet Secretary, the government's spokesperson. Shinjiro Koizumi, Yoshimasa Hayashi, and Toshimitsu Motegi, all former Liberal Democratic Party presidential candidates, are expected to be appointed as Defense Minister, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister, and Foreign Minister, respectively.

It was analyzed as a measure to promote unity within the party by placing competitors in key positions.

Prime Minister Takaichi, a ten-term member of the House of Representatives, has served as Minister of Economic Security, Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, and Chair of the Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council. A rare non-hereditary female politician in Japanese politics, she has shattered the"glass ceiling" and solidified her position as a hardline conservative.

He won the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election on the 4th and took control of the party, but the party is facing a crisis as the centrist conservative Komeito Party, which has been cooperating with the LDP since 1999, has withdrawn from the coalition.

However, he succeeded in bringing in the Japan Restoration Party, the second largest opposition party with similar political leanings and strong conservative tendencies, as a new coalition partner, and after many twists and turns, he was elected Prime Minister.

However, it is predicted that the Takaichi Cabinet's administration will not be smooth.

The Yushin Party has decided to participate in the coalition government in the form of so-called"extra-cabinet cooperation" in which its own party members will not serve in the cabinet for the time being, and it is analyzed that the cooperative relationship will be weaker than the previous LDP-Komeito coalition in which Komeito members held positions such as the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun pointed out that there are four sources of conflict between the Liberal Democratic Party and the Restoration Party: reducing the number of National Assembly members, abolishing corporate and group donations, coordinating election candidates, and weak ties.

The Asahi Shimbun explained that the conservative nature of the Takaichi Cabinet became more pronounced as the Liberal Democratic Party's coalition partner changed from the Komeito Party, which had put the brakes on conservative policies, to the Ishinkai, which called for constitutional revision and strengthening of national defense capabilities.

However, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Yushin Party are minority parties with a combined majority of seats, so they need to cooperate with other parties to pass bills and budgets.

In the House of Representatives, the LDP holds 196 seats, while the Ishin Party holds 35, falling two seats short of the 233-seat majority. In the House of Councillors, the LDP holds 101 seats, while the Ishin Party holds 19. This falls five seats short of the 125-seat majority.

Prime Minister Takaichi said at the Liberal Democratic Party's general meeting of lawmakers on the same day,"If it is for the good of the country and the people, we will definitely move forward with flexibility," and "We will make requests to each party broadly and accumulate discussions."

With the launch of the Takaichi Cabinet, attention is being paid to whether the Japan-South Korea relationship, which had maintained a cooperative tone under the Shigeru Ishiba Cabinet, which was evaluated as having a moderate view of history, will be caught up in turbulent times.

Prime Minister Takaichi has made hawkish remarks on historical and territorial issues in the past, and has regularly visited Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war criminals from the Pacific War are enshrined.

He postponed his visit to Yasukuni Shrine during the autumn annual festival held from the 17th to the 19th, taking into account diplomatic schedules such as US President Donald Trump's visit to Japan and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju.

However, if Japan makes a surprise visit to Yasukuni Shrine to rally conservatives or raises the level of response on historical issues, it is predicted that Korea-Japan relations will rapidly turn into a tense situation.

Prime Minister Takaichi is expected to expedite the development of measures to address high inflation, taking into account the political vacuum that has persisted since former Prime Minister Ishiba announced his intention to resign in early September. During his presidential election campaign, he pledged to pursue expansionary fiscal policies.

Meanwhile, the Ishiba cabinet resigned en masse this morning. Former Prime Minister Ishiba, who took office in October of last year, held office for 386 days, the 24th longest term among post-World War II prime ministers.