Japan Exercises Right to Question Unification Church

Tokyo, Nov. 22 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government on Tuesday exercised its right to question the controversial religious group known as the Unification Church under the religious corporation law.

The government sent a letter of questions to the group on the day, demanding that the group answer the questions by Dec. 9.

It was the first time that the government used such a legal questioning right since the law was revised in 1995 to stipulate the right.

The Cultural Affairs Agency will continue investigating the Unification Church, with the view to seeking a court order to disband the group.

"We aim to find out objective facts based on concrete evidence and documents," culture minister Keiko Nagaoka told a press conference on Tuesday.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]