page_title: Tarō Kōno
section_title: Abe government
hierarchical_section_title: Tarō Kōno / Political career / Abe government
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson poses for a photo with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono before a bilateral working dinner at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver, Canada on January 16, 2018.
context_page_description: Tarō Kōno is a Japanese politician belonging to the Liberal Democratic Party. He is a member of the House of Representatives, and has served as Minister for Defense since a Cabinet re-shuffle by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe on 11 September 2019. Kōno previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under the same Prime Minister until he was appointed to his current ministerial role.
context_section_description: In October 2015, Kono joined the Third Abe Cabinet as Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, Minister in charge of Administrative Reform, Minister in charge of Civil Service Reform, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety, Minister of State for Regulatory Reform and Minister of State for Disaster Management. In this role, he was responsible for coordinating security measures for the 2016 G7 summit. He left the cabinet in a reshuffle in August 2016.
  In March 2017, he lashed out at Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials during a Diet committee meeting, saying: “Was the Foreign Ministry lying? Were you clueless? Did you lack motivation? Which was the case? Make yourselves clear!”
  Abe named Kono Foreign Minister on 3 August 2017, replacing Fumio Kishida, who had served in that role since 2012 and had rarely publicly disagreed with Abe. Kono was chosen over Katsunobu Kato, after lengthy deliberation, for his superior English ability and his grasp of international issues, despite having a reputation as an outspoken and sometimes "eccentric" politician. Foreign media reports considered Kono to be more dovish compared to Abe, and expected him to take a softer diplomatic approach to foreign policy. Many analysts were particularly optimistic that Kono would adopt his father's friendly attitude toward China.
  As foreign minister, Kono was responsible for coordinating Japan's response to the North Korean crisis. He publicly urged countries to cut diplomatic and economic ties with North Korea following the announcement of enhanced sanctions by the US government in September 2017. Kono also reportedly pressed Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif to increase Iranian pressure on North Korea. Kono's father publicly criticized the government's approach to the crisis, claiming that it should be more cooperative with the Chinese government.
  Late in the evening of 15 April 2018 in the flurry of exchanges after the tripartite missile strikes on Syria, Foreign Minister Kono received the first official visit from the Chinese counterpart since November 2009. The Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be visited for several days in the leadup to Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe's visit to President Trump that month. Kono was the first Japanese FM to host an official Chinese FM visit for nearly a decade.
  Kōno's past business, as well as political ties to the United States, make him very appealing to serve as Foreign Minister. Abe said of Kono appointment, “He has been to the United States many times and made friends there. He has also had exchanges with American politicians. I'm sure he'll serve (as minister) with an understanding of how to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance”. Prime Minister Abe has made it explicitly clear that by appointing Kono to the position of Foreign Minister, he was trying to strengthen the already formidable Japanese American alliance. Kono's appointment to Foreign Minister has also been well received by Japan's surrounding neighbors,” Some Foreign Ministry officials say the appointment of Kono will be viewed favorably by China and South Korea.
  As the foreign minister at the time, he was considered a leading figure behind a trade dispute with South Korea although he was considered friendly with the country. He is also known as a leading figure of cancellation of Aegis ashore project.
caption: Kōno with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in January 2018
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