Unification Church confirms mother of Abe's suspected killer was former member

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Sat, December 9, 2023 | 23:15

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Unification Church confirms mother of Abe's suspected killer was former member

Posted : 2022-07-11 16:45

Updated : 2022-07-11 16:46

Tetsuya Yamagami, who is suspected of killing former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Friday, is escorted by police officers as he is taken to prosecutors in Nara, Japan, Sunday, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Reuters-Yonhap

By Park Han-sol

The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, more commonly known as the Unification Church, confirmed on Sunday that the mother of the suspect in the fatal shooting of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had been a member.

The 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami ― who was arrested at the scene of the crime in Nara, Japan, after opening fire with his handmade weapon during Abe's campaign speech on Friday ― allegedly believed that the Japanese former leader had ties to the religious organization, which led to his family's financial distress.

"We contacted the Tokyo-based branch to verify that the suspect's mother was a member of the church. They said she was, but we were told she has not attended any gatherings recently," the Unification Church's Korean representative told several local news outlets.

"There is no information available as of the present about the size of the donations the mother made to the church or the dates of her attendance," he added.

Founded in 1954 by Moon Sun-myung, a self-proclaimed messiah, the controversial church claims to have at least 3 million members worldwide. After the founder's death in 2012, it was split into a number of sects, in addition to the main branch of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification that is currently controlled by Moon's widow, Han Hak-ja.

Yamagami told investigative officials that he held a grudge against "a certain religious organization" of which his mother was a member, Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Sunday, citing Nara prefectural police.

"My mother was a believer who made a large donation to the group and went bankrupt," he was quoted as saying.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe / Reuters-Yonhap

According to the Asahi Shimbun, Yamagami's father had run a construction company but died during his childhood. After his mother took over the business, she began to donate huge sums to the religious sect, eventually filing for bankruptcy in the Nara District Court in 2002. Her company shut down seven years later.

The suspect had originally intended to launch an attack on the church's leader, with whom he had difficulty making contact. He subsequently switched his target to Abe, the police said, after coming to believe that the former prime minister had a connection with the group.

Last September, Abe appeared via a pre-recorded video message at the Think Tank 2022 Rally of Hope for the Realization of a Heavenly Unified Korea, an online international event co-hosted by the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification and the Universal Peace Federation (UPF).

Abe said in his message, "I would like to pay tribute to all of you, including President Han Hak-ja, who have worked together with the UPF to resolve disputes around the world, especially for the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula."

Other speakers of the day included former U.S. President Donald Trump and former European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Park Jin told the Korean press on Monday at Abe's memorial altar set up by the Japanese Embassy in Seoul that "no dialogue has been launched" between the two countries in regard to the reports on the alleged link between Yamagami's motive and the Unification Church.

hansolp@koreatimes.co.kr