Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Friday she will return one month's ministerial salary to the state's coffers as a self-imposed punishment over two financial scandals involving ministry officials.
Denver Consul General Makoto Mizutani was fired last month for allegedly pocketing public funds, and two other officials were sacked this month for padding limousine bills for the 2000 Group of Eight summit in Okinawa.
The Cabinet also approved the ministry's new top bureaucratic lineup, with Yoshiji Nogami, deputy foreign minister in charge of economic affairs, becoming the new vice foreign minister, replacing Yutaka Kawashima. The reshuffle is also linked to the scandals.