Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swept to a resounding victory in a snap election Sunday and immediately vowed to “deal firmly” with threats from North Korea that dominated the campaign. The resounding election win is likely to stiffen Abe’s resolve to tackle North Korea’s nuclear threat, as the key US regional ally seeks to exert maximum pressure on Pyongyang after it fired two missiles over Japan in the space of a month. “As I promised in the election, my imminent task is to firmly deal with North Korea,” Abe said. Abe was heading for a “landslide win”, the top-selling Yomiuri daily said on its website, as the premier’s gamble to hold a snap election appeared to be paying off. The new centre-left Constitutional Democratic Party fared slightly better than expected but still trailed far behind Abe with 58 seats.

Source: Dhaka Tribune October 22, 2017 14:03 UTC