TOKYO- Tomomi Inada resigned as Japanese defense minister on Friday over a data cover-up scandal involving the Ground Self-Defense Force, dealing a further blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's faltering administration. Inada submitted her resignation to the prime minister on the day when the release of a special investigation confirmed the cover-up of daily activity logs from GSDF engineering troops on a UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan that revealed the dangers the troops faced in the conflict-torn African nation.

The internal probe stopped short of backing up allegations that Inada played a role in keeping the logs undisclosed, although it failed to dispel the suspicion.

"This is a grave problem that could damage the people's trust and affect morale in the SDF," Inada told a press conference. "I feel deeply responsible for this," she stressed.

After accepting her resignation, Abe told reporters: "I sincerely apologize to the people. I totally accept my responsibility as the person who appointed her."

Abe named Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida to double as defense minister until a cabinet reshuffle planned for Thursday, amid the continued threat of possible ballistic missile launches by North Korea.

Demanding an off-session parliamentary meeting on the cover-up scandal, the opposition camp is keen to grill Abe, as well as Inada, in the Diet, Japan's parliament.

"Her resignation was too late," Kazunori Yamanoi, Diet affairs chief of the main opposition Democratic Party, told reporters. Recent media reports, citing alleged internal documents, have suggested Inada's involvement in the maneuvering. (Jiji Press)