Prime Minister Kishida reprimands Secretary Shoutarou for leaking information… What was the moment when the Prime Minister’s Office realized that something was wrong? | FRIDAY DIGITAL

Prime Minister Kishida reprimands Secretary Shoutarou for leaking information… What was the moment when the Prime Minister’s Office realized that something was wrong?

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His eldest son, Shotaro, is Prime Minister Kishida’s secretary. He is said to be a key person in the leakage of secrets from the Prime Minister’s Office. Together with his parents, he has started a “family insta-live”. Prime Minister Kishida’s Instagram is flooded with comments of protest Photo: Kyodo News

Secretary Shoutarou is the key person who is not supposed to be?

Shoutarou Kishida was scolded.

This past October, Papa Fumio Kishida made his eldest son Shotaro a controversial surprise appointment as secretary to the prime minister, but what happened to make Papa’s thunderbolt fall just two months later?

What happened to Takashi Shimada, secretary to the prime minister, was reportedly when the media reported the resignation of Taishiro Yamaguchi, the minister in charge of economic revitalization. A staff member at the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Before Prime Minister Kishida made the announcement, Fuji Television reported Yamagai’s resignation. This news was immediately conveyed to the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), and the Rikkumin Kokumin Doseki (DPJ) was gut-punched with excitement. This was the moment when Secretary Shimada and Director Akiba of the National Security Bureau sensed that something was wrong and that information might have leaked out.

After this, the domino of ministerial resignations was reported one after another by the media, and some of the prime minister’s top-secret matters, such as the preparation of bills and the prime minister’s answers, became known to the reporters covering the event from an early stage.

The fact that this administration, which calls for doubling defense spending and strengthening national security, has had information leaked from the heart of the administration is, if true, a very poor story.

Prime Minister Kishida and National Security Bureau Director Takeo Akiba were pale in the face when they learned of the Japan-China summit meeting that took place at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. It would have been a big deal if it had been reported in advance. The Chinese authorities are difficult to deal with, and if they get their knickers in a twist, they might even cancel the summit meeting. The Japan-China summit is Prime Minister Kishida’s biggest appeal as the Western camp in East Asia. It was a diplomatic event known only to Prime Minister Kishida, Akiba, the director general of the Security Bureau, the vice minister for foreign affairs, and a handful of other officials from related departments.

Diplomacy with China, which the world is watching closely, including the Taiwan contingency and the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, is a top-secret matter that has been negotiated in private since immediately after the Kishida administration took office. However, some media were aware of the Kishida-Xi meeting schedule. In addition, at a recent Diet session, Prime Minister Kishida shifted his answer regarding the former Unification Church Relief Law from “civil law torts are not included” to “civil law torts are included” as a requirement for a dissolution claim, the exact opposite of his original answer. The leak of this bone-headedness of Prime Minister Kishida, the resignation dominoes of Justice Minister Banashi and General Affairs Minister Terada, and several other information from the Prime Minister’s Office were said to have been leaked.

Unforgivable “ugly stories” were reported in the press.

A political information magazine widely reported an ‘ugly story’ that information was leaked to a female reporter of a TV station through Prime Minister Shoutarou’s secretary. Although the facts are still under wraps, the Prime Minister’s Office was in an uproar. It is true that in the past two months, there have been a number of cases in which information on personnel matters and bills leaked to the media ahead of government announcements. Regardless of the truth, Prime Minister Kishida has warned Secretary Shoutarou that he must “strictly manage information. I have heard that he strongly urged Shoutarou to perform his duties with a renewed sense of urgency.

The Kishida administration, which was said to be “only considering but not implementing” the plan, immediately started to take action, stating that “the defense of the country is the responsibility of each and every citizen” and that “the cost of weapons purchases will be covered by tax hikes. He also decided to “promote the construction and rebuilding of new nuclear power plants” as a measure to secure energy. Perhaps he thought that if he said this quietly after the Diet session was adjourned, it would not be widely reported by the media. Prime Minister Kishida should teach his close aide, his eldest son’s secretary, to manage information properly and show that he is not resting on his laurels during the golden three years and is ready to debate the issues in the Diet with an open mind. Not only his eldest son, but the entire nation is watching his back.

  • Interview and text by Shutaro Iwashiro Photo: Kyodo News Kyodo News

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