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Council for Reforming the Ministry of Defense
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At the meeting, the Prime Minister received from Mr. Nobuya Minami, Chair of the Council, the "Report on the Analysis of Scandals and the Direction of the Reform," a document compiled on the basis of Council discussions and other information. In the report, the Council outlined three principles for changing staff mentality and reforming organizational cultures: ensuring thorough compliance, developing professionalism, and establishing an operation of service that sets, for overall optimization, mission accomplishment as a top priority. The Council also proposed the strengthening of headquarters functions of the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Defense as a measure to reform organizations for modern civilian control. In response, Prime Minister Fukuda said, "The people's long-established trust in the Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) has been greatly shaken due to the recent scandals and the accident in January in which 'Atago,' an Aegis system-equipped destroyer, collided with a fishing vessel, among other factors. Based on the thorough analysis of these problems and matters, the Council for Reforming the Ministry of Defense has presented three reform principles and proposed to reform the organizations of the Ministry of Defense and SDF, and to strengthen the headquarters functions of the Prime Minister's Office. The Government will swiftly advance the reform in the direction aligned with the Council's proposals. Together with the Minister of Defense, I will make the utmost efforts to restore the people's trust as soon as possible, by constructing a strong yet flexible Ministry of Defense and SDF staffed by proud officials with a sense of mission.
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