TOKYO- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggested Monday that he will stick to a controversial plan to allow Kake Educational Institution, the school operator headed by a close friend of the prime minister, to set up a veterinary faculty in a national strategic deregulation zone.

"I'm not considering scrapping the plan," Abe told a Budget Committee meeting of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament. At the same time, he said he will "seriously think about what can be done to clear public suspicions."

The Lower House committee meeting was held while parliament was not in session, in order for Abe and other relevant ministers and officials to face questioning over issues including the favoritism scandal, which has been cited as a factor behind the slumping public approval ratings of the Abe government.

At the meeting, education minister Hirokazu Matsuno admitted the existence of a document headed "matters that should be told to Kake Educational Institution."

When the ministry released results of its reinvestigation into internal materials related to the plan to open the animal medicine department in the deregulation zone in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, last month, it declined to clarify the existence of the paper in question.

Citing a list of weak points for receiving approval for the school plan, it called on the school operator to improve its plan.

The document was shared within the ministry on Nov. 8, last year, a day before the Council on National Strategic Special Zones decided to allow the establishment of a veterinary department for the first time in about 50 years.

Abe said he first learned of Kake's bid for the new faculty at a meeting of the advisory council on Jan. 20 this year, the day the bid was accepted.

Yuichiro Tamaki of the largest opposition Democratic Party challenged the remark, saying it was hard to believe that Abe did not know of the move by Kake until earlier this year. He then asked the prime minister whether he would be ready to resign if it turned out that he was aware of the move in advance.

"Easy talk about betting your job can be criticized," Abe said, stopping short of declaring his readiness to step down in such circumstances.

In response to a question by Yasuto Urano of Nippon Ishin no Kai, Abe said, "I have never received any financial support such as political donations from Kake Educational Institution."

When asked by another lawmaker if he was approached by Kotaro Kake, head of the school operator, over the faculty plan, Abe stressed, "He has never once tried utilizing my status or position to accomplish something." (Jiji Press)