The list of politicians who have not paid pension premiums found a star addition Friday with the revelation that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi did not make payments for almost seven years.
Koizumi was not a member of the National Pension System for certain times and did not pay premiums during three separate periods between the 1960s and 1980s, according to Isao Iijima, Koizumi's secretary in charge of political affairs. The total nonpayment period is six years and 11 months.
Iijima said that it was not illegal for the prime minister to miss payments during those times.
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