Japan's PM Shinzo Abe plans to resign due to health reasons, says report

Japanese media have said he was actually undergoing treatment for ulcerative colitis, a chronic digestive condition

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to resign due to health reasons, ending his run as the country’s longest serving premier, local media including NHK reported.

Abe will announce the resignation at a 3 p.m. meeting of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Kyodo News reported. He had been scheduled to give a news conference at 5 p.m. Friday in which he planned to discuss his health.

No one was immediately available for comment at his office, and a senior official told NHK that he didn’t know the prime minister would step down.

Japan’s Topix index dropped as much as 1.6% on the sudden