The government will appoint former Vice Foreign Minister Yukio Takeuchi as a Supreme Court justice, replacing Osamu Tsuno, who will retire, officials said Thursday.
Takeuchi, 65, held the top bureaucratic post at the Foreign Ministry from February 2002 to January 2005, assisting with then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to North Korea in September 2002 and May 2004, and helping to strengthen Japanese-U.S. relations.
Takeuchi served as ambassador to Indonesia and director general of the ministry's Foreign Policy Bureau before becoming vice minister.