TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged Tuesday to restore public trust by promoting political reforms and to ease the worries felt by Japanese people amid rising prices by drawing up a new relief package at an early date.

Ishiba, who was elected prime minister earlier in the day, said he wants to bolster Japan's defense capabilities at a time when the security environment is severe. He said he will work to make the Indo-Pacific "free and open" by working with its key ally the United States and other like-minded nations.