TOKYO – Japanese Trade Minister Isshu Sugawara resigned, following accusations of election law violations just a month after taking up the key post charged with handling a trade dispute with neighboring South Korea.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he had accepted Sugawara’s resignation on Friday.
Sugawara had been under pressure after media said he had given gifts to voters in his Tokyo constituency, such as expensive melons and crabs, in possible violations of the campaign law.
Abe and South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon met on Thursday and agreed on the importance of cooperating on North Korea and other issues, seeking to rebuild relations amid the feud over history and trade.(Reuters)
