Harris to lead delegation to Abe funeral in Japan

Vice President Harris will lead a presidential delegation to the funeral for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo later this month, the White House announced on Wednesday.  

Harris’s trip will span Sept. 25-29 and will also include a stop in South Korea, her press secretary Kirsten Allen said in a statement.  

“Her visit will honor the legacy of Prime Minister Abe and underscore the importance of his leadership in championing the alliance between the United States and Japan and advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Allen said. “Additional members of the delegation will be announced at a later date.” 

In addition to attending the state funeral for Abe, who was assassinated in July, Harris will also meet with government officials in both Tokyo and Seoul in order to highlight the United States’ commitment “to a free and open Indo-Pacific, and our shared economic and security interests in the region and around the world,” Allen said.  

The trip will represent Harris’s first to Japan and South Korea as vice president. President Biden visited both countries in May in his first trip to the region as president.

Abe was shot and killed in July while speaking at a campaign event. A 41-year-old man named Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested shortly thereafter as the suspect in the shooting.