japan's house of representatives election "failed to win majority of the liberal democratic party"...ishiba, are you on the verge of resigning?

[Anchor]
Exit polls of Japan's House of Representatives general election, where the fate of the Ishiba regime is at stake, show that it is difficult to secure a majority of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

If the election results are confirmed, Prime Minister Ishiba, who has been in office for about a month, is expected to be politically fatally wounded.

Correspondent Kim Se-ho's report from Tokyo.

[Reporter]
Prime Minister Ishiba celebrates by attaching flowers to the names of elected lawmakers, but he looks stiff.

This is because each media company's exit polls for the House of Representatives predicted that the Liberal Democratic Party failed to win a single majority.

According to the exit poll of NHK, a Japanese public broadcaster, the Liberal Democratic Party has a maximum of 219 seats out of 465 seats in the lower house.

It fell short of the majority of 233 seats.

Even with the ruling New Komeito, the majority is also unclear, from at least 174 seats to a maximum of 254.

The JNN exit poll, a private broadcasting network, further reduced the LDP's maximum expected number of seats to 181, with only 203 seats combined with the Komeito Party.

The results of the poll that the majority of the ruling party's seats will collapse during the election campaign are virtually reflected in the exit poll.

Prime Minister Ishiba, with expectations for the new cabinet on his back, dissolved the House of Representatives for the shortest period since taking office and held an early general election.

[Tokyo citizen: Even if we change to the opposition party again, we can't trust whether we will be able to carry out reforms in the future.]

However, the failure to dispel the controversy over slush funds, which was the Liberal Democratic Party's biggest weakness, seems to have been a drag.

[Tokyo citizen: I don't think the current way of the ruling party is good. I'm not going to vote for the Liberal Democratic Party this time.]

Ishiba said he was judged very strictly and that efforts to realize the policy should be made to the fullest.

On the other hand, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party made strides by significantly increasing the number of seats, with up to 191 expected in the NHK exit poll and 151 in the JNN survey.

The LDP has not missed a majority in four elections since retaking power in 2012.

If the Liberal Democratic Party fails to secure a majority, there is a possibility that the move to replace the prime minister will begin in earnest, along with the theory of responsibility for Prime Minister Ishiba in the party.

I'm Kim Se-ho from YTN in Tokyo.