Japanese Prime
 Minister Shinzo Abe announced his plans to resign in a news conference 
Friday due to a chronic illness that has resurfaced. 6park.com
He called the decision “gut-wrenching.”
Concerns
 about Abe's health have swirled since early summer and grew in the last
 two weeks when he made two visits to a Tokyo hospital. 6park.com
Abe, 65, has said he suffers from ulcerative colitis had it under control with treatment.
He
 said Friday he's on a new treatment that requires IV injections and 
while there is some improvement, there's no guarantee it will cure his 
condition. He made the decision to step down after treatment Monday.
Abe's term ends in September 2021 and he is expected to stay on until a replacement is elected and approved by parliament.
There are a slew of politicians eager to replace Abe. 6park.com

Shigeru Ishiba, a 63-year-old hawkish former defense minister and 
Abe’s archrival, is a favorite next leader in media surveys, though he 
is less popular within the ruling party. A low-key former foreign 
minister, Fumio Kishida, Defense Minister Taro Kono, Chief Cabinet 
Secretary Yoshihide Suga, and economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi
 Nishimura, who is in charge of coronavirus measures, are widely 
speculated in Japanese media as potential successors.
He stepped down previously because of a health issue in 2007 after only serving one year in office. He was reelected in 2012.
Abe,
 the country's longest-serving prime minister, helped pull Japan out of 
recession in his second term but the country is struggling again amid 
the pandemic.
He wasn't able to formally rewrite the post-World 
War II U.S.-drafted pacifist constitution - one of his top goals for his
 time in office. He failed as well in his goals to normalize relations 
with North Korea and sign a peace treaty with Russia.
The prime minister been repeatedly criticized for his handling of the pandemic and has been upstaged by Tokyo's governor.
During
 his term, he focused on the economy, rebuilding Japan's military, being
 a larger player in international affairs and has built a strong 
relationship with President Trump. Still, his ultra-nationalism has 
riled the Koreas and China.


Abe's
 grandfather Nobusuke Kishi was also prime minister from 1957 to 1960 
and his great-uncle Eisaku Sato, served from 1964 to 1972.
 6park.com