National News Koga expelled from DPJ but remains in Diet after committing academic fraud

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The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) expelled lawmaker Junichiro Koga on Jan. 29 for making false claims about his academic background.

Senior members of the main opposition party, who met in Tokyo to discuss the case, agreed to reject the letter of resignation Koga submitted Jan. 27, according to participants of the meeting

Although DPJ President Naoto Kan and Secretary General Katsuya Okada appeared to lean toward accepting Koga's resignation, they decided on a firmer measure.

The former professional tennis player said he will not give up his Diet seat, despite calls for him to quit, because he did not intentionally make a false statement.

"I will complete my duties as a lawmaker for the sake of the voters," Koga told reporters.

Koga caused an uproar by falsely claiming while campaigning in his Fukuoka district for his first Lower House seat that he had received a bachelor's degree from one California university and attended two others.

Koga, 45, returned Jan. 26 from a brief trip to California to clear up the matter, after Pepperdine University informed him that he had not been awarded a degree, and California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), said they have no record of his enrollment.

Koga, who reportedly is only a high school graduate, had claimed he had attended UCLA, but after UCLA denied he had studied there, he told the DPJ that he had mixed up CSULA with UCLA. But CSULA also said he never was a student there.

Koga, speaking on a street in Fukuoka on Jan. 27, apologized to voters for causing trouble. He said he will give up his Diet salary and vowed to earn enough credits for graduation while continuing his Diet activities.(Kyodo)

古賀議員、民主党から除名

学歴詐称疑惑がもたれている民主党の古賀潤一郎衆院議員に対し、民主党は1月29日、除名処分を決めた。

Shukan ST: Feb. 6, 2004

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