PRESS: Japan Defense Minister To Quit Over Alleged Cover-Up

     TOKYO (MNI) - Defense Minister Tomomi Inada has decided to resign over her

alleged involvement in a ministry cover-up of daily activity logs on

peacekeeping operations in South Sudan, Japanese media reported Friday.

     Her resignation was widely expected as the public support for the cabinet

of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has continued to slide over its handling of

political scandals, casting doubt over his leadership ahead of parliamentary

elections expected next year.

     The Defense Ministry initially said the records about Japan's mission in

the African country -- where there was a military clash in July last year -- had

been disposed of. But later it was found that the daily logs had been stored

digitally.

     Inada has denied that she was informed about a possible cover-up of the

records. The ministry has conducted an internal investigation into the scandal

and the results were expected to be released Friday.

     Tetsuro Kuroe, the ministry's top bureaucrat, and Toshiya Okabe, the chief

of staff at the Ground Self-Defense Forces, are also expected to resign.

     Abe has defended Inada, who shares his nationalistic views, but was

expected to replace her in a cabinet reshuffle he plans next week, a move he

wishes to refresh the image of his government.

     Inada is known for gaffes. Just days before the July 2 Tokyo assembly

election she blundered in asking for voters' support for an LDP candidate on

behalf of the Defense Ministry, suggesting civil servants were publicly

supporting a particular political candidate.

     In the past, she also came under fire for trying to justify Japan's wartime

atrocities, saying the women who were forced to work as sex slaves chose to do

so.

     In another scandal, opposition parties have charged that Abe showed

favoritism to a close friend over plans to open a veterinary faculty in a

special deregulation zone as part of the government's growth strategy. The

friend, Kotaro Kake, runs Kake Educational Institution (Kake Gakuen) which

operates universities, high schools and vocational schools.

     The Education Ministry has confirmed that there was a memo written by

Cabinet Office officials that urged the Education Ministry to handle the

application by Kake Gakuen because it was the intention of the Prime Minister's

Office. The ministry initially denied the existence of such an official

document.

     An expert witnesses who was a senior Education Ministry official testified

in parliament this week that he was under the impression that the order came

from the prime minister but other former and current government official

testified there was no evidence to support his claim.

     Opposition lawmakers have questioned why the government approved in January

a plan to open a veterinary school for the first time in 52 years when it is

believed that Japan had a sufficient number of veterinarians. Abe has repeatedly

denied that his friendship with Kake was a factor in the government's choice of

Kake Gakuen for the deregulation project.

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-2175-0040; email: hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-4670-5309; email: max.sato@marketnews.com

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