“We are struggling to understand why this happened. We will co-operate fully with the police to uncover his motives,” he added. The church’s comments come after Japanese broadcaster NHK reported earlier in the day that the suspect, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, targeted the former prime minister because he believed Abe’s grandfather — another former leader of the country — had helped extension of a religious group that held malice. Abe’s grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who served as prime minister from 1957 to 1960, was targeted for assassination in the last year of his premiership, although he survived after being stabbed six times. “I thought that former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi contributed to the expansion (of the religious group) and I thought of killing his grandson, former Prime Minister Abe,” the suspect, 41-year-old Tetsuya Yamagami, told investigators, NHK reported. . “I had a grudge against a certain religious group, and I thought former Prime Minister Abe had a close relationship with that group,” Yamagami was quoted as saying. “My mother joined a group and made a large donation and my family life was thrown into disarray.” Yamagami has not been formally charged but is being investigated on suspicion of murder after he admitted to shooting Abe last Friday in the city of Nara, where the former leader was delivering a campaign speech. CNN could not independently confirm which group Yamagami was referring to or any ties between Abe and any group the suspect harbored hatred for. But on Monday, the president of the Unification Church’s office in Japan said Yamagami’s mother was a member who attended its events about once a month. But Yamagami himself was never a member of the church, Tanaka said in a statement. At a press conference later Monday, Tanaka said he learned the suspect’s mother was experiencing financial difficulties around 2002, but added, “We don’t know what the causes were or how they affected the family’s circumstances.” CNN could not locate Yamagami’s mother for comment, nor determine whether she has legal representation, nor confirm whether she was affiliated with the church — a group founded in South Korea that gained worldwide notoriety for its mass weddings. at Madison Square Garden, New York. Tanaka also denied that Abe’s grandfather had a role in the expansion of the Unification Church, saying that Kishi took “no special measures or had any special influence on the spread of the religion.” The church had received a message of support from Abe at an event it organized, but the former prime minister was not a registered member of the church, nor did he sit on its advisory board, Tanaka said.
What is the Unification Church?
The Unification Church, originally known as the Holy Spirit Union for the Unification of World Christianity, was founded by Moon Sun-myung in 1954. It rose to prominence in the late 1950s and early 1960s, a time of turmoil in South Korea, which over time was transforming from a poor country torn apart by civil war to one of the world’s most modern economies. By the 1980s the church had a global reach and remains prominent in parts of Asia today. It continues to make international headlines for its mass weddings, where thousands of young couples tie the knot at the same time, with some brides and grooms meeting for the first time on their wedding day. Moon, known to his followers as “Father Moon”, died in South Korea in 2012 at the age of 92.
Who is Tetsuya Yamagami?
Details of the killing continue to emerge as Japanese authorities investigate suspect Tetsuya Yamagami. Yamagami told investigators he had “made up his mind” to kill Abe a year ago, NHK reported, citing “investigative sources” on Monday. Yamagami had used a homemade weapon, which he had been practicing shooting in the mountains days before the killing, according to NHK. The firearms “suited his goal of killing Abe without fail,” Yamagami said, according to NHK. Nara police said Monday that Yamagami may have fired a test shot in the early hours of Thursday, a day before Abe’s assassination, against the building of “a certain group” in Nara prefecture. CNN visited the building on Monday, where the entrance was prominently displayed with a sign reading “Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.” The building was covered by a blue tarp and guarded by two police officers, who confirmed it was the scene of a “dangerous” shooting incident, which is under investigation. CNN was unable to see signs of gunfire on the facade of the building and did not receive explicit confirmation from police on the scene that Yamagami was involved in the incident under investigation. On Monday, Nara police investigators told CNN that Yamagami is cooperative but has shown no remorse. Asked if the suspect was working alone, police said they were investigating all possibilities. Abe’s funeral was hosted by Aki Abe’s widow at a temple in Tokyo on Tuesday, with attendance limited to family members and those close to the former prime minister.
