New Leader Wants to Make Japan a Force

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, chats with Foreign Minister Taro Aso prior to the opening of a Parliament session in Tokyo Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006. Abe, the new outspoken nationalist prime minister, is soaring in public opinion polls with support ratings for his Cabinet as high as 71 percent, according to surveys released Thursday by four major newspapers. (AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara) (Katsumi Kasahara - AP)

Later Friday, Abe and members of the headquarters met with a group of the abductees' families.

"We must let North Korea understand that the current situation they face never gets better without resolving the abduction issue," Abe told reporters later Friday.

In the speech before parliament, Abe also promised to strengthen patriotism training in classrooms.

"The objective of education is to foster an ambitious people, and to build a dignified state and society," Abe said. "I will immediately engage in a revival of education to create citizens who treasure their families, their regions, their country, and life itself."

He promised measures to boost the country's competitiveness to support its resurgent economy, while vowing to cut down on government expenses.

Abe, who has taken a 30 percent pay cut to demonstrate his commitment to trimming the budget, promised fresh government job cuts and reform of the state's sprawling policy finance institutions.

He also outlined plans to overhaul the country's pension system _ including dismantling the scandal-ridden Social Insurance Agency _ in an attempt to deflect criticism that his focus on security and foreign policy were taking attention away from pressing domestic issues.

Abe has been condemned by critics who say his financial policies are too vague. He also has been accused of sidestepping the need for tax hikes to pay for the mounting medical and retirement costs of an aging population.

Still, the new leader was buoyed by the release Friday of healthy industrial production and consumer price figures that underlined the continued recovery of the world's second-largest economy. Japanese industrial production rose 1.9 percent in August from the previous month, while the core consumer price index rose 0.3 percent in August.

Though critics say the new prime minister lacks the charisma of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, Abe had public approval ratings of up to 71 percent in his first round of newspaper polls published Thursday.