Defense Ministry Scandals: Unprecedented Situation Betrays Public Confidence

Editorial

16:29 JST, July 13, 2024

Classified information has been handled sloppily and allowances have been paid for training sessions that never happened. To top it all off, there have been incidents of workplace bullying, and eating meals without paying for them at base cafeterias.

Lax discipline is quite noticeable. The Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces need to overhaul their organizations and take thorough measures to prevent the recurrence of similar irregularities.

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara has taken disciplinary action against a total of 218 people for various scandals at the ministry and the SDF.

They include the administrative vice minister, which is the top bureaucratic post; the chief of staff of the Joint Staff, which is the top post for SDF officers; the chiefs of staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force, the Air Self-Defense Force and the Maritime Self-Defense Force; and the director of the Defense Intelligence Headquarters. It is unprecedented for the senior officers responsible for national defense to be punished across the board.

Cases related to improper handling of “specially designated secrets” — classified information related to national security — accounted for the largest number, with 119 members punished. Most of the cases occurred in the MSDF.

On 38 MSDF vessels, personnel who were not qualified to handle the specially designated secrets saw and heard information on computer screens about the location of other countries’ vessels and other specified secrets.

Some captains tried not to allow unqualified personnel to have access to the specified secrets, but many other captains showed little awareness of this. If information on the location of other countries’ vessels is leaked outside through unqualified personnel, other countries’ vessels would be endangered.

This time, there have reportedly no confirmed leaks of information to the outside, but the accusation of carelessness is unavoidable.

This could also cause a loss of trust from allied and friendly nations, and there are concerns that it may cause obstacles in sharing information with them in the future.

Seventy-four MSDF personnel were also punished for cases of divers falsifying the frequency and duration of their training sessions and fraudulently receiving diving allowances. The amount of fraudulent payments reportedly amounted to about ¥43 million over the past six years.

In addition, 22 people were punished for eating at cafeterias on MSDF bases without paying for their meals.

It is beyond the pale for SDF personnel to illegally receive public funds. It is quite natural that MSDF Chief of Staff Ryo Sakai, who received a disciplinary action of reduced pay, has announced his intention to resign from the post to take responsibility for the scandals. Criminal responsibility should be pursued in malicious cases.

As for the MSDF, it has just been decided that a special defense inspection will be conducted after suspicion surfaced that its personnel were offered food, drinks, money and other items by employees of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. in connection with submarine repair work.

Why have scandals been repeated in the MSDF? Are they limited to the MSDF alone? What has caused the lax discipline in the organization? The root of misconduct must be eradicated.

Although only a fraction of the about 250,000 SDF personnel were punished, the fact that their misconduct is damaging trust in the entire SDF should be seriously reflected upon.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 13, 2024)