Japan eyes new intelligence minister post
Japan plans to create a new ministerial post in charge of intelligence, Kyodo reports citing a government source.
The goal is to centralize information “amid an increasingly complex security environment.”
The Government’s plan is to establish a new national intelligence secretariat and a body, which would include the prime minister and relevant Cabinet members.
The secretariat is to be set up by July, by upgrading the existing Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, that handles information from domestic and international channels.
The new minister would assume intelligence-related duties now held by Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October, pledged to strengthen intelligence capabilities of Japan, though critics warn expanded powers could result in greater monitoring of citizens.
Earlier, it was reported that Japan's government launched a nationwide investigation, after a staff member of a public employment service center in Tokyo posed as a job seeker, in an alleged attempt to inflate job placement targets.
