(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I have two announcements. The first topic is about my overseas visit to the U.S. I will visit Hawaii, the U.S., from Thursday, May 2 to Saturday, May 4, and attend the Japan-Australia-Philippines-U.S. Defense Ministerial Meeting and the like. At the Japan-Australia-Philippines-U.S. Defense Ministerial Meeting, we will share our recognition on the regional security environment and common challenges, and discuss a wide range of specific efforts to strengthen cooperation with other countries. Through this visit, I intend to emphasize the unity among allies and like-minded countries towards the realization of a rules-based international order and a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”
The second is about cases involving the leaking of specially designated secrets that occurred within the MSDF and Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF). Cases involving the leaking of specially designated secrets occurred within the MSDF and GSDF, and I would like to announce the results of the investigation and the disciplinary actions today. While further details will be explained by the staff, upon receiving the results of the investigation, today we have decided to take disciplinary actions against the parties and persons concerned. With regard to the case in the GSDF, we have also decided to submit an indictment to the Military Police. All of the leaks occurred internally to the respective forces and no leaks to outside parties have been confirmed. However, we take it extremely seriously that such cases have occurred following the previous leak of specially designated secrets to a retired MSDF personnel member. For this reason, I have issued instructions for the Ministry of Defense (MOD) as a whole to investigate whether or not there are any similar incidents, and also to consider reviewing the information security system at the Committee For Studying Recurrence Prevention headed by the State Minister of Defense. Such cases must not occur in the MOD, which possesses secret information necessary for the defense of Japan. The MOD as a whole will exert all efforts to prevent a recurrence, taking recent cases seriously and doing our utmost to regain the trust of the people of Japan.