Defense Agency head Gen Nakatani said Friday he is taking full responsibility for the turmoil in the Diet following the suspected attempt by senior ruling party members to withhold a report of a probe into the information disclosure scandal.
"It is free for anybody to give their opinions, but I evaluate them and make decisions," the top defense official told a news conference.
Nakatani made the remarks in defending Taku Yamasaki, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, who is believed to have pressured agency officials into not making the full report of the in-house agency probe public on Tuesday. A summary was all that was initially released.