Japanese LDP Lawmakers Investigate Connections with Unification Church

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan is investigating connections with the Unification Church (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification) among all its affiliated members of the National Diet.

On the 27th, according to Yomiuri Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun, the LDP has requested its members to investigate their connections with the Unification Church and report by the 2nd of next month. Even after the reports, if new connections are revealed through media coverage, additional reports will be requested.

The investigation items include eight categories such as whether members sent congratulatory messages or greetings to Unification Church-related gatherings, whether interviews or dialogue articles were published in Unification Church promotional materials, and whether they attended Unification Church-related organization meetings and donated membership fees.

The LDP plans to compile and announce the investigation results around the 6th of next month.

On the 8th of last month, Tetsuya Yamagami, who assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, stated the motive for the crime was that "his mother made large donations to the Unification Church, which ruined the family." Since then, criticism has intensified within Japan regarding the relationship between the Unification Church and the political sphere, especially the LDP.

In response, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida reshuffled his cabinet on the 10th, replacing 14 out of 19 ministers. Among them, seven ministers found to have connections with the Unification Church were replaced. However, media reports have confirmed that some ministers with ties to the Unification Church remain in the new cabinet.

According to an NHK broadcast survey, among the 73 ministers, vice ministers, and parliamentary secretaries (deputy minister level) in the current cabinet, about 40%, or 32 individuals, have connections with the Unification Church.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.