Administrative reform minister Ryutaro Hashimoto on Monday voiced regret over the alleged embezzlement of diplomacy funds by a former senior official at the Foreign Ministry, saying such wrongdoing should not be tolerated.

"I am sorry that the alleged embezzlement took place when I was serving as prime minister . . . The issue is too serious to judge from what has been reported up to now," Hashimoto told a luncheon meeting at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in Tokyo.

The government failed to have an auditing system to check the use of such funds, and the ministry may have left the official in the same post for too long, he said.

Hashimoto, who was prime minister from January 1996 to July 1998, said the government has already begun reforming the ministry by changing the way in which the government recruits diplomats.

Asked about the reform of his Liberal Democratic Party, which is under fire for the alleged involvement of its senior members in scandals involving the mutual aid foundation KSD, Hashimoto said he does have concerns over the party, but added, "I'm now only a member of the LDP. I'm happy that I'm not in a position to have to make comments with responsibility."

Hashimoto, 63, who served as LDP president from September 1995 to July 1998, said he does not oppose a proposal by LDP Secretary General Makoto Koga that LDP members should come forward to tell the public of any donations they have received from KSD.

Meanwhile, Hashimoto flatly denied speculation that he accepted the current post of state minister for administrative reform, Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs as a step to again becoming prime minister.

Responding to a reporter's question, Hashimoto said, "If you wrote a story based on that speculation, it would be the misreport of the new century. So I hope you won't make such a mistake."