Tokyo: A senior Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force officer is suspected to have leaked national security-related specially designated secrets, government sources said Saturday.

The case, if confirmed, would be the first leak of such designated secrets in the country.

The Defense Ministry is conducting an internal investigation on the matter and planning to take disciplinary action against the MSDF captain soon.

According to the sources, the case was traced to a former MSDF official’s request, which was relayed to the MSDF captain via several people.

The ministry is working to confirm the details of the suspected leak, as well as how the affected information has been used.

The ministry is planning to punish other people involved in the case, too.

In 2014, Japan put into force the law on the protection of specially designated secrets in four fields–diplomacy, defense, spy prevention and terrorism prevention.

The maximum period of a designation is a total of 30 years in principle. Government workers and others who have leaked designated secrets could be imprisoned for up to 10 years, and those who have encouraged someone to leak such secrets could face up to five years.

According to the government, there were 693 designated secrets as of the end of June, including 392 linked to the Defense Ministry.

JIJI Press