The Ministry of Defense has dismissed a Maritime Self-Defense Force Captain 1st Class on the 26th for leaking information containing "designated secrets" that require advanced information security to former employees.
This is the first time that a person has been punished for leaking a "designated secret", and the Ministry of Defense established a review committee headed by the vice minister on the 26th to prevent a recurrence.
What is a “special secret”?
“Specified secrets” are designated by the heads of administrative agencies such as ministers for information that requires special protection related to the security of the country and citizens from among information in the fields of defense, diplomacy, espionage and terrorism.
The Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets imposes imprisonment of up to 10 years on public officials who leak "designated secrets," and imposes imprisonment of up to five years on those who instigate the leak.
The designated period of "special secret" is up to 5 years and can be renewed any number of times, but if the total exceeds 30 years, it is necessary to obtain the approval of the Cabinet, and there are some exceptions such as encryption and the performance of the equipment of the Self-Defense Forces. All but 60 years from now, all will be made public.
According to the Cabinet Secretariat, 693 "special secrets" have been designated as of the end of June this year.
The breakdown is as follows:
▽Ministry of Defense had the most cases with 392 cases,
followed by
▽Cabinet Secretariat with 108 cases,
▽National Police Agency with 49 cases, and
▽Ministry of Foreign Affairs with 43 cases.