Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Thursday removed Kiyoshi Okazaki as Consul General in Shenyang and took punitive action against 11 other officials who failed to deal appropriately with five North Korean asylum-seekers who sought refuge at the consulate two months ago.
Okazaki also faces a one-month pay cut of 20 percent under the National Public Service Law and has been ordered to return to Japan. Deputy Consul Atsushi Nishiyama was also reprimanded and has also been ordered to return to Japan.
"The core of the problem was the lack of a sense of crisis among the staff involved," Kawaguchi told a news conference Thursday evening. "I apologize to the Japanese public for various inappropriate actions in the handling of the incident."