JAPANESE Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was forced to apologise today for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s close ties to the Unification Church — better known in the West as the Moonies.

“I squarely face the people’s voices regarding our relationship with the Unification Church,” he announced at the opening session of the current parliament.

Mr Kishida promised a crackdown on the church’s suspect businesses and donation collection schemes, including through setting up a new department to advise victims.

The assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe in July has shone a spotlight on the church after the shooter said he had targeted Mr Abe because of his links to it. Tetsuya Yamagami said the church bankrupted his family by duping his mother out of large sums.

Mr Kishida has also faced widespread criticism for granting Mr Abe a state funeral, which opposition figures said was a nationalist stunt.

The Moonies, a South Korean group, were welcomed to Japan by Mr Abe’s grandfather the war criminal Nobusuke Kishi because of their value as anti-communist propagandists.