Koizumi Will Remain Head of Ruling Party
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was reanointed president of his ruling party, winning a full two-year term and setting the stage for the popular leader’s real battle to implement painful reforms.
Koizumi’s biggest immediate headache, though, was a diplomatic one mostly of his own making.
He must decide soon whether to go ahead with a proposed visit to a Shinto shrine for war dead where war criminals are also enshrined, a move that would outrage China and South Korea.
“I have many headaches,” Koizumi said. “Every time I climb one mountain, there is another to climb.”
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
