Yoon to pay tribute to Abe

Jul 11, 2022, 09:21 am

		0
Japanese people pay their respects to former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in Nara, Japan, on July 9, 2022./ Source: Kyodo·AP=Yonhap News

AsiaToday reporter Seon Mi-ri

The sudden death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sent shock waves through Japan and the entire world. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and other leaders around the world shared their condolences over the weekend.

Yoon will visit a memorial altar set up by the Japanese Embassy in Korea to pay his tribute to former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, the presidential office said Sunday. However, the official schedule for Yoon’s visit to the memorial service has not been confirmed. Apart from Yoon, Prime Minister Han Duk-soo, National Security Advisor Kim Sung-han and Foreign Minister Park Jin are expected to pay condolences on Monday. President Yoon also plans to send a delegation of condolences, composed of Prime Minister Han, National Assembly Vice Speaker Chung Jin-suk, and senior party lawmakers, to Japan to pay their respects.

Yoon and other international leaders expressed their condolences over the killing, and Japanese people also paid their respects to the country’s longest serving prime minister throughout the weekend.

Various speculations have been raised about the motive of Tetsuya Yamagami, the 41-year-old man who shot and killed Abe. Some media outlets reported that the killing is related to the Unification Church, also known as “Family Federation for World Peace and Unity”, a religious group Abe’s mother was obsessed with.

The killer told police he hoped to kill a leader in the religious group, but he thought it would be difficult, so he aimed at killing Abe. The Nara prefectural police, which is in charge of investigating the case, said the crime was motivated by “hatred towards a certain group” and the suspect believed Abe was linked to the group.

The Japanese media outlet Gendai Business reported exclusively Saturday that the religious group Yamagami mentioned appeared to be the Unification Church. Established in 1968 by the Unification Church, the International Federation for Victory over Communism is a conservative political organization known to be closely related to Japan’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

According to Gendai Business, the close ties between Abe and the International Federation for Victory over Communism has been an open secret for a long time. Some media outlets believe that Yamagami decided to commit the crime after Abe sent a video message to the Unification Church.

The police are investigating why Yamagami has hatred against the Unification Church. The killer told investigators he believed Abe was linked to a religious group he blamed for ruining his mother financially and breaking up their family.

#Yoon Suk-yeol #Shinzo Abe #tribute