Cabinet Official Resigns Over Pension Scandal
From Times Wire Reports
A powerful advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi resigned after admitting that he failed to make mandatory payments into the troubled national pension system. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda was so influential he was known as the “shadow foreign minister.”
Japan is struggling to salvage the financially troubled pension system as its society rapidly ages. Many fear the smaller workforce of the future will not generate enough payments to supply pensions to the growing ranks of retired.
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