Japan stated that it recognizes the need for more effective countermeasures against foreign intelligence after the New York Times reported that Russia has turned the country into a "spy den" and a key source of weapons components, reports UNN citing AFP and The Guardian.
Details
In an investigation published on Sunday, the newspaper reported that due to "weak espionage laws," Moscow is using Japan as a key hub for gathering intelligence and procuring dual-use technologies needed for the war in Ukraine.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Monday: "We acknowledge that in the changing security environment, there is a growing need to counter foreign intelligence activities, such as the acquisition of critically important information that threatens Japan's national security."
Refusing to directly comment on the NYT report, Kihara told journalists that Tokyo "must address this issue with even greater thoroughness."
Kihara added that this year the Japanese parliament approved a bill that paves the way for the creation of a new national body to coordinate disparate intelligence activities.
The report cites estimates from the Ukrainian government, according to which 90% of Russian missiles and drones contain Japanese components.
It claims that Russia's operations in Japan were conducted by a Russian intelligence officer working undercover at the Tokyo office of the Russian state-controlled airline Aeroflot.
Since direct exports to Russia are restricted, procurement networks use intermediary companies and third countries such as Vietnam, Uzbekistan, and Sri Lanka to deliver components to Russia, the NYT added.
The report emphasizes that hundreds of Russian spies were expelled by Western countries when the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, and reports that many of them ended up in Japan to take advantage of the thriving technology industry and weak espionage laws.
"We feel a sense of crisis," Akihisa Shiozaki, a lawmaker from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and a former lawyer who handled industrial espionage cases, told the NYT.
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