Japan minister resigns after row over ties with church under scrutiny for Shinzo Abe’s murder

Daishiro Yamagiwa: Japanese minister of economic revitalisation Daishiro Yamagiwa, resigned over allegations of his links to a Unification Church. The church is under scrutiny after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The resignation has come as a blow to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Yamagiwa, who did not name the church, said he did not want the allegations to “affect the parliamentary debate”.

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Political casualty

Yamagiwa, the first person to resign from Kishida’s government since he took power last year, became the highest profile political casualty thus far from a widening scandal sparked by the killing of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in July.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is rapidly losing support amid revelations about connections between nearly half of the lawmakers of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Unification Church. Yamagiwa’s resignation is seen a severe blow to the prime minister.

Yamagiwa later told reporters he regretted his actions but stopped short of an apology and said he would remain as a lawmaker since he had done nothing illegal.

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Delayed explanation

“It was pointed out that my explanation was delayed. As a result, I caused inconvenience to the government,” Yamagiwa said.

He added that he regretted attending so many church gatherings and giving the organisation recognition as a result.

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki was quoted by Jiji news agency as saying he was surprised by Yamagiwa’s resignation and added that care must be taken that there is no impact on a government economic package due to be approved later this week.

Under scrutiny

The church, founded in South Korea in the 1950s and famous for its mass weddings, came under the spotlight following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 8.

The suspect in Abe’s shooting bore a grudge against the church, alleging it bankrupted his mother and he blamed Abe for promoting it, according to his social media posts and news reports.

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