Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide has announced his candidacy for president of the main governing Liberal Democratic Party.

The party is set to choose a successor to its outgoing president, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, on September 14.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide appears to be solidifying support among lawmakers of the main governing Liberal Democratic Party as the successor to Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

The party will soon choose a new president after Abe announced his intention to resign due to health reasons.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide is likely to officially announce his candidacy to succeed Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on Wednesday.

Suga is expected to explain to reporters why he plans to run in the leadership election for the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

In the race to choose the new leader of Japan's main governing Liberal Democratic Party, support for Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide appears to be widening. The winner of the election will take over from Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, when he resigns to deal with health issues.

Suga is expected to officially announce his candidacy once the schedule for the election is decided. On Monday, he met the head of the party's largest faction and other senior party members to ask for support.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide is likely to wait to announce his intention to run to succeed Prime Minister Abe Shinzo until how and when the method of choosing a successor is agreed.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is likely to decide on the method of selecting its next leader on Tuesday.

Several politicians have signaled their intention to seek the premiership since Prime Minister Abe Shinzo announced he would resign for health reasons, while some in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's hope to see Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide succeed Abe.

LDP's Policy Research Council Chairperson Kishida Fumio, former LDP Secretary-General Ishiba Shigeru and former internal affairs minister Noda Seiko have shown strong interest in becoming the next leader.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide says the government is keeping an eye on developments involving Chinese Confucius Institutes.

The institutes are educational establishments set up by Beijing in cooperation with universities around the world, including Japan, to promote Chinese language and culture.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide says the government will continue to do its best to contain the coronavirus and protect people's lives and health.

Suga said the government has been dealing with the challenge of containing the outbreak since January. He said it will continue to work hard to prevent the explosive increase in infections that has been seen in the US and some European countries.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide says the Japanese government continues to watch the situation in Hong Kong with grave concern.

Suga spoke to reporters on Tuesday after Hong Kong police arrested pro-democracy activists and a media tycoon under the territory's new national security law.

Japan's government says it will keep all options open, in response to South Korea's moves to sell off the assets of a Japanese firm due to a wartime labor lawsuit.

A South Korean court said that as of Tuesday, legal procedures to notify the Japanese side of the asset seizure order were deemed complete.

Japan's top government spokesperson says the coronavirus outbreak is continuing to expand across the country, but the situation does not require the government to declare a state of emergency again.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide told reporters on Friday that the expansion is seen as slower than in March and April, but it remains worrisome. He said recently the spread of infection is picking up speed in some parts of Japan, and the number of serious cases has gradually been on the rise.

Japan's top government spokesperson has expressed strong displeasure with a South Korean botanical garden for setting up a statue of a man kneeling in front of a girl statue symbolizing those referred to as comfort women.

The garden has explained to South Korean media that the male statue represents Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo.

Japan's top government spokesperson has said the government has a high level of interest in North Korea's movements on a daily basis.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide said the government is working to collect and analyze data, but he refrained from commenting on specific contents.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide has pledged efforts to bring home nationals abducted by North Korea in response to the desperate wishes of their families.

Suga and a group of prefectural governors seeking to rescue the abductees met at the prime minister's office on Tuesday.