Abe Killing Puts Pressure on Lawmakers’ Unification Church Ties
- Suspect cited grudge against group and its links to ex-PM
- Opposition parties begin looking into ties with lawmakers
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The assassination of Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has thrown a spotlight on the little-known relationship between the country’s ruling party and the Unification Church.
The South Korea-based church is best known for its mass weddings and its followers are nicknamed “Moonies” after its founder and self-proclaimed messiah Reverend Sun Myung Moon. The man arrested for shooting Abe with a homemade gun has been quoted by local media as saying he was motivated by a perceived connection between Abe and the Unification Church, which he blamed for his family’s financial ruin.