is a Japanese

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

serving as a Member of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

since 1998. He previously served as Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party in the

, and was the

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The minister is also a statutory member of the National Security Council (Japan), National Security Council, and is nomin ...

from August 2016 to September 2019 under

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

. As Minister, he played a crucial role for announcing the export restrictions against South Korea in 2019. A native of

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture to ...

, he graduated from

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

and received a master's degree in corporate communications from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. On 4 April 2024, Seko resigned from the LDP after he was reprimanded along with 38 other party members for their involvement in the 2023–2024 Japanese slush fund scandal. In the 2024 election, Seko ran as an independent candidate in the Wakayama 2nd district of the House of Representatives, and defeated the LDP candidate Nobuyasu Nikai, son of former cabinet minister

Toshihiro Nikai is a former Japanese politician for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the leader of the LDP Shisuikai faction (informally called the Nikai faction), who served as the Secretary-General of the LDP from 2016 to 2021. He was previously the ...

. Seko has been described as one of the core members of the " Abe Faction" of the LDP.

Honours

* : Grand Officer of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

(29 October 2014)Decoraties Staatsbezoeken Japan en Republiek Korea
- website of the Dutch Royal House

References

External links

* in Japanese. Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Waseda University alumni Boston University College of Communication alumni Living people 1962 births Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) politicians Ministers of economy, trade and industry of Japan Members of the House of Representatives from Wakayama Prefecture {{Japan-politician-1960s-stub