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Japanese officer arrested over defense leak

A Japanese navy officer suspected of leaking classified data on the high-tech AEGIS radar system, part of a Japan-US mutual defense agreement, was arrested yesterday, the Japanese navy said.

Sumitaka Matsuuchi, a 34-year-old lieutenant commander in the Maritime Self-Defense Force, was arrested for allegedly leaking the classified data to an instructor at a Japanese naval academy in violation of a Japan-US security pact, the defense ministry said in a statement.

Investigators alleged Matsuura, based in Yokohama, near Tokyo, leaked the classified data in August 2002 by sending the disk to an instructor at a naval academy in the western city of Etajima, the ministry said.

The instructor then reportedly copied the disk and circulated it among dozens of academy students and teachers.

Police found one of the disks in March at the home of a Japanese naval officer during an immigration investigation involving his Chinese wife.

The arrest of the lieutenant commander by civilian and military police follows a series of investigations earlier this year into leaked intelligence on the AEGIS system that Japan and the US use on missile-defense capable ships.

Japan has vowed to improve its handling of classified defense data.

The leaked data, which included "special defense secrets," had been prepared for use in training courses for cadets who would be dealing with high-tech anti-air defense systems on AEGIS ships, a navy statement said.

The classified data had been leaked to others, the navy said.

It was not clear whether it had been leaked outside the Japanese navy, Kyodo news agency said.

"We take this as an extremely important case which dents the confidence of the Maritime Self-defense Force," navy chief Eiji Yoshikawa said in a statement.

"This is a piece of evidence that the interest of not only the defense ministry but also of the entire government in intelligence-related matters is weak," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told reporters shortly before news of the arrest.

Earlier this month the government launched a special panel on reforming the ministry, mired in a string of scandals involving ministry officials and businesses.

The US has repeatedly expressed concerns over leaks of defense secrets in Japan. Japan and the US sealed a deal in August which Japanese officials said would facilitate the exchange of classified information.
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