TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio on Saturday decided to appoint former education minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa as foreign minister, sources said.

Kishida is concurrently serving as foreign minister from Thursday, when Toshimitsu Motegi left the post to become secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The appointment of Hayashi is slated to take effect Wednesday, when Kishida will form a new cabinet.

Hayashi, the No. 2 member of the LDP faction led by Kishida, ran in the party’s leadership race in 2012. Some faction members want Hayashi to become prime minister.

Hayashi was elected to the Diet, Japan’s parliament, for the first time in the 1995 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber. He won an Upper House seat for five straight times.

He switched to the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, in Sunday’s general election, in which he gained a seat in the No. 3 constituency of Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan.

Hayashi, well-versed in many policy issues, held key government posts also including defense and agriculture ministers.

As foreign minister, Hayashi’s urgent tasks will be to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and build a stable relationship with China, which is growing its influence in the economic and military fields.

Other major issues include Japan’s deteriorating relations with South Korea over history issues, its territorial dispute over the four Russian-held islands called the Northern Territories in Japan and North Korea’s ballistic missile launches.

Kishida aims to strengthen the foundation of his administration by appointing Hayashi, the sources said.

JIJI Press