TOKYO: Japan’s Defense Ministry plans to shortly release the results of its internal investigation into a series of harassment cases and punish officials involved, government sources said Sunday.

It was also learned that the mishandling of designated secrets related to national security is strongly suspected in the ministry’s Joint Staff and the Air Self-Defense Force, in addition to the Maritime SDF. The ministry is considering punishment for the matter, as well.

In the wake of a sexual harassment complaint by former SDF member Rina Gonoi, the ministry conducted a special investigation of all SDF members and punished those involved, including demoting a general-class officer.

According to the sources, the ministry has expanded the investigation to cover uniformed officers, who are in charge of policy planning and budget compilation, and confirmed a number of harassment cases, including intimidating behavior that caused psychological pain to a subordinate, as well as sexual harassment.

The ministry is also investigating the suspected mishandling of designated secrets, while believing that there have been no external leaks of such security secrets.

JIJI Press