Abe pledges to restore trust in pension program

Japan's
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he will do his utmost to restore public
confidence in the nation's pension program.



Referring to the recent pension-record blunder, Mr Abe said at a press
conference on Saturday that he is truly sorry as head of the administration,
for causing concerns for many people. He said it is his responsibility to
resolve this problem and allay these concerns.



Mr Abe said he believes the pension issue will be a focus in the upcoming Upper
House election. He said he will appeal to the public for the need to reorganize
the Social Insurance Agency, which he thinks has many problems.



In a public address later in the day, Mr Abe said the government is determined
to get to the bottom of the pension fiasco and identify where the responsibility
lies by looking into records over the past decade.



He said reforming the agency is part of his goal of breaking Japan away from
what he calls the post-war regime.