Lima, Peru

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba faced criticism from netizens in the country after he was seen greeting other leaders in the APEC forum summit in Peru while remaining seated. 

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The behaviour of the prime minister was called out by the people for "bad manners".

In the footage, Ishiba was seen using his smartphone while remaining seated when other leaders like Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim and Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau reached out to him. 

When the leaders reached out to him, PM Ishiba looked up and shook hands with them but did not stand up.

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"So embarrassing," wrote one social media user in Japanese. 

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"It's not even about being prime minister. His attitude is unthinkable for an adult," said the other. 

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The prime minister's behaviour was called rude after another video in which he was seen dancing at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Forum summit's welcome ceremony went viral.

Japanese PM gets stuck in traffic, misses APEC group photo session

Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba also failed to participate in a group photo session that took place at the summit because he got stuck in a traffic jam and was late. 

The photo session was carried out without Ishiba, as leaders like US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping positioned themselves in the centre for the photograph. 

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Speaking at a press conference, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, "As the photo session was held at the end of the meeting, the absence did not affect the relationship-building process with the other leaders."

Ishiba, who took the position of prime minister in early October, "delivered his messages and demonstrated his presence firmly during the two-day gathering" of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum, said Hayashi.

He added that Ishiba got caught in heavy traffic when he was coming back from the grave of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori in Lima.

(With inputs from agencies)