Yoon delivers condolence over Abe's shooting death

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is lying on the ground after he was shot from behind by a man during an election campaign event for the July 10 Upper House election in Nara, Friday, in this screenshot from Kyodo News.

By Nam Hyun-woo

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks to the media upon his arrival at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, in this file photo taken on Aug. 24, 2020. AFP-Yonhap

President Yoon Suk-yeol offered his condolences for Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was brutally shot during a campaign speech, Friday.

According to the presidential office, Yoon offered condolences to Abe's widow, Akie Abe, hours after the former prime minister was pronounced dead.

"I deliver my condolences to the bereaved family and the people of Japan, who have lost the longest-serving prime minister in the country's constitutional history and a respected politician," Yoon said in his message.

While expressing his sorrow and shock, Yoon continued, "The shooting which took the life of former Prime Minister Abe is an unacceptable crime," according to the office.

Though it was not an official message, Foreign Minister Park Jin reportedly delivered words of consolation and wished for Abe's quick recovery to his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Bali, Indonesia.

According to Japanese news outlets, Abe, 67, was shot in the neck and chest during a campaign speech outside a train station in the southwestern city of Nara around 11:30 a.m. He was transported to Nara Medical University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 6 p.m.

A 41-year-old man, identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, was suspected of carrying out the shooting and was arrested at the scene. Japanese media reported that he served in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force for three years from 2005, and appeared to have used a small hand-held shotgun in the attack.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he condemns the shooting "in the strongest terms," adding it is "absolutely unforgivable."

Korea's main political parties also released messages of condolence and condemned the brutal crime.

"The Abenomics policies were his trademark and he is also remembered as a politician who strived to revitalized Japan's economy from a long-term slowdown," said Rep. Her Eu-na, spokesperson of the ruling People Power Party. "Terrorism cannot be justified for any reasons. Elections should be a festival of democracy, and the act of terrorizing elections is absolutely unacceptable."

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea also condemned the shooting, saying "political terrorism is a serious threat to democracy."

Tetsuya Yamagami, bottom, is detained near the site of gunshots in Nara Prefecture, Japan, Friday. Yamagami allegedly shot former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fatally during a campaign speech. The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP

Abe, 67, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, held office in 2006 for one year and again from 2012 to 2020, when he was forced to step down due to the debilitating bowel condition ulcerative colitis. During his time in power, Abe had four Korean presidents as counterparts.

He is known as a hawkish conservative taking far-right steps on history issues with Korea. Throughout his tenure, he continued visiting Yasukuni Shrine that honors war dead including convicted war criminals from World War II.

Relations between Seoul and Tokyo soured during Abe's tenure, as Japan began restricting exports of key industrial materials to Korea in 2019, in an apparent retaliation to the Korean Supreme Court's ruling ordering Japanese companies to compensate surviving South Korean victims of wartime forced labor.

In response, Korea filed petitions to the World Trade Organization, and nearly let the Korea-Japan General Security of Military Information Agreement expire. Seoul conditionally suspended the decision to terminate the agreement following a resolution passed in the U.S. Senate calling on Korea to renew it. Korean citizens also countered the trade restrictions by boycotting Japanese products.

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