Japan's Defense Ministry said Friday it has disciplined 218 Self-Defense Forces members and senior bureaucrats in connection with a spate of issues including the mishandling of classified information, and eating and drinking in base cafeterias without paying.
The individuals subject to disciplinary actions are also accused of abuse of power. Among them, 11 were dismissed, two were demoted, 83 were suspended, 14 received pay cuts and seven were given a formal reprimand. The others were just admonished or warned.
With the scandals mainly affecting the Maritime Self-Defense Force, Adm. Ryo Sakai, chief of staff of the MSDF, will step down on July 19 to take responsibility. He will be replaced by Vice Adm. Akira Saito.
Sakai himself was given a pay cut for failing to adequately control and supervise those serving under him, while others such as Vice Defense Minister Kazuo Masuda and Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, chief of the ministry's Joint Staff, were also admonished.
Speaking to reporters, Sakai said, "I think the root cause is the lack of compliance among the troops and governance ability within the organization."
The revelations are fueling public concern about the ministry and the SDF at a time when Japan has been beefing up its defense capabilities by raising public spending amid increasingly severe security challenges posed by China, North Korea and Russia.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said at a press conference, "I am deeply conscious of my responsibility for betraying the public's faith." He apologized when announcing the disciplinary actions and promised to return his salary for a month as a Cabinet member.
Meanwhile, Kihara, who took the current post in September 2023, denied he will resign as Japan's defense minister, pledging to "rebuild our organizations under my leadership to restore public trust" in the ministry and the SDF.
Hours before the announcement, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apologized for any concern caused among the public. After attending a NATO summit in Washington, he told reporters in the United States that he hopes Kihara will continue to fulfill his duties.
Crew members on several MSDF destroyers allegedly shared sensitive classified information by tasking unqualified colleagues with recording vessel movements without confirming they have the authority to do so.
Similar sloppy information handling has also been found in the ground and air self-defense forces, as well as the Joint Staff Office, which is responsible for integrating the operations of the three SDF branches.
None of the state secrets in question are thought to have leaked outside the SDF and the ministry, Kihara said.
Other MSDF members have been suspected of collecting allowances for diving training and duties they did not engage in, with the sum of the alleged benefit claims possibly totaling about 43 million yen ($270,000).
The fraudulent practice is believed to have become common, involving dozens of MSDF members, and may have gone on from 2017 to 2022.
In addition, more than 20 MSDF members and officials who were not entitled to free meals in cafeterias at SDF bases faced disciplinary action for not paying for their food.
As for the abuse of power cases, three ministry officials at the director level or higher are accused of repeatedly making intimidating remarks to their subordinates and causing them psychological suffering.
The behavior was discovered during or after the ministry's special investigation into various forms of harassment in all SDF units from September 2022 to August 2023 following a high-profile sexual abuse case involving former female GSDF member Rina Gonoi.
Separately from the disciplined cases, the ministry decided last week to launch a special investigation into the alleged creation of slush funds by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. to provide money and goods to MSDF submarine crew via fictitious transactions with subcontractors.
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