The church linked to Abe’s killing, Japan’s political troubles

Hak Jaa Han, widow of Sun Myung Moon, sits beside his coffin during a funeral service for the late founder of the Unification Church, at the CheongShim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, about 60 km (37 miles) northeast of Seoul, South Korea, September 15, 2012 [File: Lee Jae-Won/ Reuters]

Shinzo Abe was not his assassin’s preferred target.

Investigators say Tetsuya Yamagami, who fatally shot Japan’s longest-serving prime minister on July 8, had initially wanted to kill the leader of the Unification Church — a South-Korean religious sect that the 41-year-old blames for his family’s financial ruin. But the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way.