Japan’s leader apologizes and says his party will cut ties to Unification Church

TOKYO —  Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Wednesday that his ruling party would cut ties with the Unification Church following a widening scandal triggered by former leader Shinzo Abe’s assassination last month.

Kishida also apologized for causing a loss of public trust in the political system.

Widespread, cozy ties between members of Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party, many of them belonging to Abe’s faction, and the South Korean-based church have surfaced since Abe was shot to death while giving a campaign speech in July.

The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagani, who was arrested at the scene, allegedly told police that 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 political party that has governed Japan virtually uninterrupted since World War II.

While religious groups must abide by the 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.

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“As president of the LDP, I honestly express my apology” for causing the public’s doubts and concerns over the continuing revelations in media reports about the party’s extensive ties to the church, Kishida said.

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 interest of opposing communism. Abe’s grandfather, 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, the 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.

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Experts and cult watchers also say that the church has promoted its key agenda items, such as opposition to women’s advancement and same-sex marriage, in an effort to influence political policy.

Kishida shuffled his Cabinet earlier 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 said at the news conference that he has instructed LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi to survey the party fully over any other members’ ties to the church. Kishida said that he was rushing the effort but that it may still take time because the review will span decades.

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 state funeral scheduled for Sept. 27 has split public opinion. 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.

Kishida’s Cabinet last week allocated at least $1.8 million to invite about 6,000 guests to the funeral in the Budokan arena in Tokyo.

Kishida insisted that Abe deserved a state funeral because of his achievement in raising Japan’s global profile as its longest-serving postwar leader. He said Japan had to respond with courtesy to “outpouring of condolences” from foreign leaders and legislators.