The chief of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is considering resigning following the mishandling of classified information by personnel on several destroyers, a government source said Saturday.
Adm. Ryo Sakai, chief of staff of the MSDF, has expressed his intention to take responsibility, with the Defense Ministry planning to punish those involved, including senior officers, in the near future, the source said.
Similar cases are suspected to have occurred not only in the MSDF and the Ground Self-Defense Force, which have already been identified, but also in the Air Self-Defense Force and the Joint Staff Office responsible for integrating operations of the three branches, the source said.
If the cases are confirmed to be true, it would mean that the forces and the Defense Ministry as a whole did not properly manage classified information.
The ministry plans to release the findings of its investigation into how the information, designated as state secrets, was handled internally, including by the three SDF branches, the source said, adding tens of officials may be targeted for punishment.
In April, the ministry said a crew member on the MSDF destroyer Inazuma was assigned to handle the confidential information without undergoing a background check, as required by the secrecy law for government officials who will have access to state secrets.
Some senior MSDF officers were suspended or given pay cuts in connection with that case.
A ministry probe, launched after Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said he was taking the matter “extremely seriously,” found other cases of the mishandling of confidential information on a number of MSDF destroyers, the source said.
The secrecy law took effect in 2014 to prevent the disclosure of state secrets covering defense and foreign policy as well as the countering of espionage and terrorism.
Individuals undergo a vetting process that checks for criminal convictions, alcohol abuse and financial difficulties before they are cleared to handle state secrets. As of the end of 2023, a total of 751 items were designated by ministries and agencies as state secrets, with the Defense Ministry accounting for 429, including information related to the specifications and performance of weapons.
In December 2022, the ministry dismissed an MSDF captain over the alleged leak of state secrets to a retired admiral, the first such case since the secrecy law came into force.
