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To: c.hinton who wrote (11336)	5/15/2004 1:46:30 AM
From: c.hinton	Respond to of 108599

Japanese premier in pension scandal By Colin Joyce in Tokyo (Filed: 15/05/2004) Japan's prime minister Junichiro Koizumi was embroiled in a pensions scandal yesterday that has already forced the resignation of his right-hand man and the leader of the main opposition party. An aide to Mr Koizumi said he had not met contributions to the national pension scheme for a total of nearly seven years over three periods. Mr Koizumi said he had "absolutely no" intention of resigning, saying he had not broken the law and he was not obliged to contribute to the pension scheme during the periods he did not pay. But if the public is unhappy with his defence, he is likely to face calls to resign while the disclosures are likely to dent support for his government ahead of elections to the upper house in July. Public disgust with politicians has grown as dozens of MPs and regional politicians have admitted recently missing compulsory payments. Seven cabinet ministers have missed payments, including the finance minister, the economics minister and the defence agency chief. Yasuo Fukuda, the government's chief spokesman, resigned last week over his omission and Naoto Kan, the leader of the Democratic Party, resigned this week. Most of those implicated have said that failure to pay was an omission. Yesterday's disclosure came just hours after it was announced that Mr Koizumi would hold a crucial summit with Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, in Pyongyang on May 22. The pension scandal has emerged as the government is pushing legislation through the Diet to save the ailing state pension system.