Japan Navy chief of staff quits over security breaches

TOKYO

Admiral Ryo Sakai, chief of staff of the Maritime Self-Defence Force, bows his head during a press conference at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo on July 12, 2024.

The Japanese Navy's chief of staff quit on July 12 after a raft of scandals including over people without adequate security clearances handling classified defense materials.

"I will resign from the chief of maritime staff job on July 19 and retire," said Admiral Ryo Sakai, the most senior uniformed officer in the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF).

"As chief of the maritime staff, I am responsible for the training of personnel and the organizational management of the force, and I'm rightly held accountable for failing to fulfil my duties as the manager of specified secrets," Sakai told reporters.

Chief government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi also said that "disciplinary action" had also been taken against more than 200 people.

"The activities of the Self-Defense Forces are underpinned by the trust of the public, and these incidents, which must never be allowed to happen, are extremely regrettable," Hayashi told reporters.

"From now on, under the leadership of the defence minister, I hope that the ministry and the Self-Defense Forces will work together to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a recurrence of such an incident and that it never happens again," he said.

The Defense Ministry announced in April that five senior officers including a destroyer captain had been punished after an unvetted officer handled information on the location of other countries' ships.

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said at the time that the material was not leaked to outsiders but that the government "takes these incidents extremely seriously."