Japanese minister steps down

TOKYO – Japanese diplomacy won’t be affected by the resignation of the country’s foreign minister for accepting an illegal political donation from a foreigner, Japan’s embattled prime minister said today.

The resignation of Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara on Sunday night is a blow to Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s already shaky government. It also is likely to further erode public confidence in Kan, whose public approval rating has fallen below 20 percent.

Kan is the country’s fifth leader in four years, and Maehara had been seen as a leading candidate to replace him if it was decided a change was the best way to keep their ruling Democratic Party of Japan in power.

Maehara, 48, who was foreign minister for just six months, acknowledged receiving $3,000 over the past few years from a 72-year-old Korean woman who lived most of her life in Japan. He said they had been friends since his childhood.

Japanese law prohibits lawmakers from accepting donations from any foreigners, even those born in Japan.