TOKYO: Japanese digital transformation minister Taro Kono said Tuesday that he will travel to Northern Europe and the Middle East from the same day.

The trips sparked concern among some in the ruling bloc because Kono is tasked with overseeing the government’s comprehensive inspection of the My Number personal identification system.

Kono is set to visit Finland, Sweden and Estonia through Sunday. He will then return briefly to Japan before visiting Jordan, the Palestinian region and Israel from Monday to July 22.

He heads a government task force to investigate a spate of issues linked to the My Number system, which is slated to release an interim report by early August.

Kono said that he will carry out duties online while abroad, and that he will have the state minister and parliamentary vice minister for digital transformation spearhead efforts.

Hiroshige Seko, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s secretary-general in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan’s parliament, told a press conference Tuesday that he “had some concerns” about Kono’s foreign trips at a time when his task force should be working on the report.

But Seko said he was “convinced to some extent” after Kono explained to him that work to compile the results of the inspection will be done after the foreign trips.

JIJI Press