By Japan Today Editor

Copyright japantoday

Outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will visit New York from Tuesday to attend the U.N. General Assembly, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said Friday.

Ishiba, who announced earlier this month that he is stepping down, is slated to deliver a speech at the assembly’s general debate session. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi said the government is also arranging bilateral meetings between Ishiba and other leaders.

“It will be a meaningful opportunity to convey Japan’s position on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation as well as other global issues,” Hayashi told a press conference.

Ishiba, head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is scheduled to return to Tokyo on Thursday after two days in New York. His successor as LDP leader will be elected on Oct. 4.

This marks the second straight year that Japan has sent a prime minister who had expressed his intention to resign to the U.N. General Assembly.

Last year, Ishiba’s predecessor Fumio Kishida held talks with leaders such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but did not deliver an address at the general debate, as he needed to return to Japan in time for the LDP presidential election.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations and Japan’s surrender in World War II.