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Japan PM promises change in the wake of navy collision

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda promised yesterday to shake up the defense ministry after the country's newest and largest destroyer rammed a fishing boat, leaving a father and son missing at sea.

The Kyodo news agency separately reported that the head of the Maritime Self-Defense Force would be sacked over the embarrassing collision, which is threatening to become another headache for a prime minister whose approval ratings have dropped sharply.

The Atago, which is equipped with the state-of-the-art AEGIS radar weapons system, crashed into a small tuna fishing boat off the Pacific coast on Tuesday.

A 58-year-old fisherman and his son, 23, remain unaccounted for.

"I think the organizational structure [of the ministry] is problematic," Fukuda told a Cabinet meeting. "We need to review the organization from its root."

He urged all ministers "to make double sure about crisis management. The competence of a given government and Cabinet will be questioned over how we manage crises."

Nevertheless, he rejected calls by the opposition, which is pushing for snap elections, for Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign.

"I hope Minister Ishiba uses all his strength to continue reforming" the ministry, Fukuda said.

Ishiba traveled to the fishermen's home village on Thursday and bowed in apology to the head of the local fishermen's union, who charged that the naval crew's negligence caused the accident.

Ishiba said after Fukuda's remarks that he was setting up an in-house team of experts to reform the ministry.
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