The Board of Audit of Japan urged the Defense Ministry on Thursday to take tough disciplinary action against two senior ministry officials for allegedly spending sharply beyond the budgeted amount for research work linked to the relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps airfield in Okinawa.
The Defense Ministry officials in question were both former heads of the Naha Regional Defense Facilities Administration Bureau, currently the Okinawa Defense Bureau.
This was the first time since 1952 that the board demanded that a ministry or agency discipline officials. The board is authorized to demand that government organizations take such action against their officials, if they caused financial damage to the government either intentionally or through negligence.