Kyodo News to Remove Senior Editors over Misreport

   Tokyo, Dec. 6 (Jiji Press)--Kyodo News will replace the heads of its editorial bureau and news center Jan. 16 over its erroneous report that Akiko Ikuina, a House of Councillors lawmaker of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on Aug. 15, 2022, the 77th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
   The Japanese news agency said Thursday that it took disciplinary action against Naoto Takahashi, the editorial bureau head, and five other staff members Wednesday.
   On the war-end anniversary two years ago, Kyodo reported that Ikuina visited Yasukuni Shrine that day based on unconfirmed information. The shrine honors Class-A war criminals along with the war dead and is regarded as a symbol of Japan's past militarism by its neighboring countries.
   The report is believed to have prompted the South Korean government delegation to skip a memorial service for all gold miners including Koreans on Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, in November, which Ikuina, currently parliamentary vice foreign minister, attended as a representative of the Japanese government. The report turned out to be false after the event.
   According to Kyodo, Takahashi, who was the head of the news center in 2022, also received a pay cut, and current news center head Shiro Yamane, then head of the political news department, was suspended from work for three days.

(2024/12/06-14:20)

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