TOKYO: Two members of the Japanese ruling party faction formerly led by the late Prime Minister ABE Shinzo  plan to resign as parliamentary vice ministers amid a political funds scandal, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

The two are KOMORI Takuo, parliamentary vice minister for internal affairs, and KATO Ryusho, parliamentary vice minister for land, both members of the Liberal Democratic Party’s Abe faction.

Speaking to reporters, Komori said that a political group linked to him had failed to report income of 700,000 yen and that the group corrected its political funds report.

“I wasn’t aware of the failure, but I apologize for causing political distrust,” Komori said.

Kato decided to resign for a similar reason to Komori, people close to him said.

The Abe faction, at the center of the high-profile political funds scandal, plans to correct its political funds reports Wednesday.

In December, Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio replaced four cabinet ministers and five state ministers, all members of the Abe faction, over the scandal. So far, only one parliamentary vice minister from the faction has resigned.

Parliamentary vice ministers from the faction have been asked to make decisions on their own after examining their political funds reports.

JIJI Press