At the Cabinet meeting on the 6th, the director of the National Security Agency, Shigeru Kitamura, retired, and the government decided to appoint Takeo Akiba, the former Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, as the successor director.
Mr. Akiba, who will be newly appointed as the director of the National Security Bureau, which will be the secretariat of the NSC = National Security Council, the command tower of diplomatic and security policy, is 62 years old.
He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1982 and was appointed as the administrative vice-minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January 2018, serving for nearly three and a half years, the longest after the war.
In addition to having a wide range of international connections, Mr. Akiba has a "strategic reciprocal relationship" that aims to expand common interests and develop relationships with China, and a "free and open Indo-Pacific" based on the rule of law. I was also involved in the planning of the concept.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato said at a press conference after the Cabinet meeting, "I have a wide range of work experience at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have been appointed as the Director of the National Security Bureau from the perspective of the right person in the right place."
On the other hand, Mr. Kitamura, who will retire, served as Prime Minister's Secretary in the 1st Abe Cabinet, served as Cabinet Intelligence Officer in the 2nd Abe Cabinet for nearly 8 years, and was the second director of the National Security Bureau from September. Served.
This appointment will be announced on the 7th.