Kishida Vows to Probe Reported Unification Church Policy Pacts

Tokyo, Oct. 20 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that his ruling Liberal Democratic Party will investigate reported possible policy accords with organizations linked to the religious group known as the Unification Church.

The Asahi Shimbun daily reported Thursday that the organizations asked some LDP lawmakers to sign accords to support the groups' policies, including constitutional amendment, in exchange for cooperation that would be provided during elections.

The organizations approached the lawmakers at the times of last year's election for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, and the election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber, in July this year, according to the newspaper.

"We need to confirm once again" whether the LDP was aware of such policy accords when it recently investigated relations between its lawmakers and the Unification Church, Kishida told a meeting of the Upper House Budget Committee.

"It's important for each LDP lawmaker to fulfill their accountability for their own actions," he added.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]