Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has apologized for a fundraising scandal involving his governing Liberal Democratic Party that caused serious public distrust in the country's politics.

At a news conference held later on Thursday following the disciplinary decision by the ethics committee, Kishida said the LDP decided to take punitive actions from the viewpoint of clarifying the political responsibility of parties concerned.

He said that the measures reflect the serious responsibility of the faction executives who are suspected of having systematically left raised funds unreported for a long time.

He said the disciplinary decisions placed heavier penalties on the executives concerned for failing to correct their long-standing practices and for effectively leaving the problem unattended.

Kishida went on to say he extends his heartfelt apologies to the people as the President of the LDP for the negative consequences of the scandal that invited public doubts and serious distrust in the country's politics.

Kishida also expressed his commitment to reforming the LDP's governance in a bid to prevent any recurrence of a fundraising scandal, and revising the Political Funds Control Law.

Kishida referred to the former official in charge of accounting of his own faction, who has been found guilty, but he as the head of the faction himself was not punished.

He said he understands he was not punished because all the funds raised under his own name had been reported.

But he said that, in fact, the LDP as a whole invited public distrust in politics and he is aware that he must take seriously his own responsibility as its president.

Kishida said he is ultimately in the position to ask for the mandate of the people and LDP members after they had monitored the development of his efforts for political reforms.

Regarding possible disciplinary actions against former Prime Minister Mori Yoshiro, who used to head the faction, later led by the late Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, Kishida said he made a phone call directly to him and interviewed him.

But Kishida said the LDP has still been unable to confirm whether or not Mori was involved in the faction's irregularities.