TOKYO (AP) — The assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has unearthed long-suspected, little-talked-of hyperlinks between him and a non secular group that began in South Korea however has unfold its affect world wide.
Police and Japanese media have steered that the alleged attacker, Tetsuya Yamagami, who was arrested on the spot, was livid about Abe’s reported ties to the Unification Church, which has pursued relationships with politically conservative teams and leaders within the United States, Japan and Europe. The suspect reportedly was upset as a result of his mom’s large donations to the church bankrupted the household.
Many Japanese have been stunned as revelations emerged this week of the ties between the church and Japan’s prime leaders, which have their roots in shared anti-communism efforts in the course of the Cold War. Analysts say it may lead folks to study extra carefully how powerfully the ruling occasion’s conservative worldviews have steered the insurance policies of recent Japan.
A take a look at the church and its deep ties to Japan’s governing occasion and Abe’s circle of relatives:
WHAT’S THE UNIFICATION CHURCH?
The church was based in Seoul in 1954, a 12 months after the top of the Korean War, by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the self-proclaimed messiah who preached new interpretations of the Bible and conservative, family-oriented worth techniques.
The church championed anti-communism and the unification of the Korean Peninsula, which has been cut up between the totalitarian North and democratic South.
The church is probably finest identified for mass weddings the place it paired off {couples}, typically from totally different nations, and renewed the vows of these already married, at huge, open locations comparable to stadiums and gymnasiums. The group is alleged to have a world membership of tens of millions, together with a whole bunch of hundreds in Japan.
The church confronted accusations within the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s of utilizing devious recruitment ways and brainwashing adherents into turning over large parts of their salaries to Moon. The church has denied such allegations, saying many new spiritual actions confronted related accusations of their early years.
In Japan, the group has confronted lawsuits for providing “spiritual merchandise” that allegedly brought about members to purchase costly artwork and jewellery or promote their actual property to elevate donations for the church.
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WHAT’S THE CHURCH’S LINK TO WORLD LEADERS?
Throughout his life, Moon labored to remodel his church right into a worldwide spiritual motion and broaden its enterprise and charitable actions. Moon was convicted of tax evasion in 1982 and served a jail time period in New York. He died in 2012.
The church has developed relations with conservative world leaders together with U.S. presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and extra just lately Donald Trump.
Moon additionally had ties with North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of present ruler Kim Jong Un.
Moon stated in his autobiography that he requested Kim to hand over his nuclear ambitions, and that Kim responded that his atomic program was for peaceable functions and he had no intention to use it to “kill (Korean) compatriots.”
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WHAT WAS ABE’S LINK TO THE CHURCH?
Abe was identified for his arch-conservative views on safety and historical past points and likewise was backed by highly effective lobbies such because the Nippon Kaigi. He appeared in occasions organized by church associates, together with one in September 2021.
In a video proven on a giant display on the assembly of church-related Universal Peace Federation, or UPF, Abe praised its work towards peace on the Korean Peninsula and the group’s give attention to household values. An emphasis on conventional, paternalistic household techniques was considered one of Abe’s key positions.
“I appreciate UPF’s focus on family values,” he stated within the video. “Let’s be aware of so-called social revolutionary movements with narrow-minded values.”
Reports of his look within the 2021 occasion drew criticisms from the Japanese Communist Party and cult watchers, together with a bunch of legal professionals who’ve watched the Unification Church actions and supported its alleged victims.
In a information convention Monday after the church’s connection to Abe’s assassination was revealed, the church’s chief in Japan, Tomohiro Tanaka, stated Abe supported UPF’s peace motion however that he was not a member.
Police nonetheless haven’t publicly recognized the group cited by the suspect, presumably to keep away from inciting violence.
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WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR JAPAN’S GOVERNING PARTY?
The ties between the church and Japan’s governing occasion return to Abe’s grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who served as prime minister and shared worries with Washington over the unfold of communism in Japan within the Nineteen Sixties as labor union activists gained power.
Kishi, who was arrested as a conflict felony however by no means charged, was identified for his right-wing political opinions, and the Unification Church’s anti-communist stance matched his views of Japan’s nationwide pursuits, specialists say.
Kishi’s shut relationship with the church was publicly identified. The church headquarters at one level was housed in a constructing subsequent to Kishi’s Tokyo residence, and he was seen with Moon in photographs taken on the church and revealed in group publications. Media studies say the suspect believed that Kishi introduced the church to Japan.
“Japanese leaders at the time saw the church as a tool to promote anti-communist views in Japan,” stated Masaki Kito, a lawyer and skilled on spiritual companies. For the group, showcasing shut ties with outstanding politicians was a approach to get endorsement for its exercise.
Ties between church-affiliated organizations and LDP lawmakers developed over many years because the church expanded, offering strong political help and votes for the governing occasion, specialists say, although the group denied it.
A survey of 128 lawmakers obtained from police and revealed within the Weekly Gendai journal in 1999 confirmed most attended occasions organized by the Unification Church’s anti-communism affiliate, the International Federation for Victory Over Communism, additionally funded by Moon, and greater than 20 LDP lawmakers had not less than one church member of their places of work as a volunteer.
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WHAT IS BEING SAID BY THE CHURCH AND ITS CRITICS?
The church denied any favorable remedy by Kishi when it opened a Japan department. Tanaka stated Abe supported present chief Hak Ja Han Moon’s peace motion, however denied any motion of cash between the group and the LDP.
The church stated Monday it had no information exhibiting that Yamagami was a member. The church stated it had had no direct relationship with Abe, though it interacted with different lawmakers by means of an affiliated group.
Members of the National Network of Lawyers Against Spiritual Sales, who watch the church, say they’ve repeatedly requested Abe and different LDP lawmakers to cease showing or sending messages to the occasions organized by the Unification Church or associates whereas ignoring the long-standing church-related issues.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE PARTY?
“The assassination is shedding a light on the Unification Church,” stated Koichi Nakano, a world politics professor at Sophia University in Tokyo. “The church’s relationship with the LDP’s right-wing factions and its ultra-right-wing policies could come under close scrutiny,” and lead to a reevaluation of Abe’s legacy.
It may lead to revelations of how the occasion’s views have distorted postwar Japanese society, whereas stalling progress of gender equality and sexual range points, Nakano stated.
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Associated Press author Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed.