Japan's upper house to punish lawmaker over unauthorised DPRK visit

Japan's House of Councillors, or the upper house, is expected to pass a motion to punish its member Antonio Inoki over his unauthorized visit to the Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea (DPRK) last week, local media said. The motion against Inoki, a Japan Restoration Party (JRP) affiliated lawmaker, was submitted by Japan's ruling bloc including the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito Party and other opposition parties and is expected to easily pass the chamber, said Japan's Kyodo News. The chamber's steering committee decided Tuesday to have the full house vote the following day on a motion, marking the first time for the chamber to vote for a punishment motion since 1952. If it is passed, the Committee on Discipline will decide on a specific punishment, said Kyodo. Japanese lawmakers must obtain Diet approval before traveling overseas when the legislature is in session, while Inoki's visit to the DPRK last week was without such permission from the upper house. Meanwhile, JRP's National Diet lawmakers on Tuesday decided to suspend Inoki from his post as the party's deputy secretary general for 50 days over the unauthorized visit, Kyodo quoted a JRP member as saying. They also agreed to ask the conservative opposition party's Secretary General and Osaka Governor Ichiro Matsui to suspend Inoki's party membership for 50 days from Tuesday, according to the report.