Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada has denied media reports that she agreed to hide the fact that the records relating to the Ground Self-Defense Force's peacekeeping activities in South Sudan were at the GSDF command. The ministry once said they had been destroyed.

Ministry officials earlier said that the GSDF had destroyed the logs, but they announced in February that the logs had been found at another ministry office.

Following that announcement, ministry officials stated that they had found the logs at GSDF stored in digital form. Now a special probe is underway to determine what really happened.

Some media outlets are reporting that Inada approved of a plan to withhold the discovery of the records at the GSDF at a meeting attended by senior Defense Ministry officials in mid-February of this year.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Inada said that she had not approved of a plan to withhold the logs or to deny their existence.

Administrative Vice Defense Minister Tetsuro Kuroe, who is believed to have attended the meeting, said he does not remember what was debated. He added that the defense minister had never approved of a cover-up plan.

Inada said during past Diet debates that she had not been briefed about the existence of the records. She said that if the defense ministry and the JSDF are inclined to cover up facts, she believes it is her responsibility to correct that practice.

Source: Kyodo