Japan Minister Noda to Give Up One-Year Pay over Info Leak

August 7, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese internal affairs minister Seiko Noda said Tuesday she will give up a year's worth of salary to take responsibility for telling a third party about a media request for information disclosure. "I apologize for causing troubles by damaging the credibility of the administration due to a lack of knowledge even though I'm minister responsible for matters related to the information disclosure law," Noda said. Noda will return 1,617,088 yen in total, or 110,000 yen per month plus bonuses, which she received on top of her salaries as a lawmaker from August last year, when she took up the ministerial post. "It is a self-punishment as a politician," Noda told a press conference. In May, Noda learned that a journalist of the major daily Asahi Shimbun had requested the Financial Services Agency to disclose a record of a meeting held at her office in January. Noda learned of the request orally via internal affairs ministry staff from an FSA official before the agency decided how to respond to the journalist's request. She spoke about the request at a social gathering with representatives of media outlets before the disclosure was made. The Asahi Shimbun requested the disclosure of the record of the January meeting among a secretary to Noda and officials of the agency and a company suspected of running a cryptocurrency exchange service without registering with the FSA. Despite the scandal, Noda reiterated her eagerness to run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election slated for September. Separately, the FSA said it gave an oral or written admonition to four senior officials related to the passing of the information to Noda. The action was inappropriate even though it is not banned under law, the agency said. Jiji Press