Japan PM vows to cut party’s church ties as scandal widens
TOKYO — Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday his ruling party will cut ties with the Unification Church following a widening scandal triggered by former leader Shinzo Abe’s assassination last month, and apologized for causing the loss of public trust in politics.
Widespread cozy ties between members of Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party, many of them belonging to Abe’s faction, and the South Korea-based church have surfaced since Abe was shot to death while giving a campaign speech on July 8.
The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagani, allegedly told police he killed Abe because of his apparent link to the church. In a letter seen by The Associated Press and social media posts believed to be his, Yamagani said he believed his mother’s large donations to the church had ruined his life.
Some Japanese have expressed understanding, even sympathy, as details of the man’s life emerged, creating deep implications for the party that has governed Japan virtually uninterrupted since World War II.
While religious groups must abide by law, “politicians are strictly required to be careful about groups with social problems,” Kishida said. Members of his Cabinet and other key posts have agreed to review their past links and cut ties with the church.
The Unification Church, which was founded in South Korea in 1954 and came to Japan a decade later, has built close ties with a host of conservative lawmakers over their shared interests of opposing communism. Abe’s grandfather and former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi was a key figure who helped the church’s political unit in Tokyo.
Since the 1980s, the church has faced accusations of problematic recruiting, sales of religious items and donations, which often lead to financial strains on the followers’ families and, according to experts, mental health of adherents’ children. The issues led to the government’s decision to cut ties with the church.
Abe sent a video message last year to the Universal Peace Federation, an international group affiliated with the church, which experts say may have motivated the suspect in Abe’s shooting. Abe had praised the federation’s co-founder Hak Ja Han Moon, who is also head of the church, for her effort in promoting traditional family values.
Kishida shuffled his Cabinet in August to purge seven ministers linked to the church. Among them was Abe’s younger brother Nobuo Kishi, who acknowledged that church followers volunteered in his election campaign. Dozens of LDP members have since come forward with their ties to the church and related organizations.
Kishida apologized for the loss of public trust because of the scandal and his lack of explanation for organizing a state funeral for Abe, one of most divisive leaders in Japan’s postwar history. The only other state funeral in postwar Japan was for former Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who signed the San Francisco Treaty that restored ties with the Allies and ended the U.S. occupation of Japan.