The Ground Self-Defense Force failed to report to
then-defense chief Tomomi Inada that it had found activity logs in March
2017 for troops in Iraq, even as she denied their existence during Diet
deliberations the previous month, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera
said Wednesday.
The latest revelation comes as another
potential blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, already
embroiled in a cronyism scandal over a heavily discounted sale of state
land to a school operator with ties to his wife, Akie.
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| Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera |
The
GSDF reported to the ministry in January this year that it had found
the logs, even though the documents were discovered over nine months
before.
Opposition lawmakers had requested to see the
logs, but the ministry said on Feb. 16 last year that such logs did not
exist. Four days later, Inada told a Diet committee that the ministry
was unable to find the logs.
“I want to apologize for
inaccurate explanations in the Diet and the failure to respond
appropriately to the request for the documents,” Onodera told reporters,
adding that he has set up an investigation team in the ministry.
The
ministry was rocked by a similar scandal last year, when its
inappropriate handling of GSDF activity logs for a U.N. peacekeeping
mission in South Sudan prompted Inada to resign in July.
Regarding the logs for GSDF personnel dispatched for
reconstruction efforts in war-torn Iraq more than 10 years ago, the
ministry admitted Monday that it had found them despite denying their
existence last year.
Opposition lawmakers had been asking
for the logs as deteriorating security conditions in South Sudan and
risks facing the peacekeepers were being discussed in the Diet at the
time.
“I cannot believe that the Defense Ministry would
come as far as reporting false information,” said Hajime Sebata, an
associate professor at Nagano Prefectural College who is knowledgeable
about public document management.
“There have been a
series of problems regarding the government’s handling of public
documents, but this case (involving the Defense Ministry) is even
worse,” Sebata said, referring to the Finance Ministry’s admission that
it had altered documents on the state land sale to the school operator.
Japan
sent roughly 5,500 GSDF personnel to Iraq from January 2004 to July
2006 to provide water and medical aid and help repair infrastructure in
Samawah in the south of the country.
The mission stirred
controversy as it was the first time for Japan to send the SDF, whose
role is restricted by the war-renouncing Constitution, to a country
where fighting was continuing.
KYODO
