Attempts by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to rally support following his heavily criticized handling of the COVID-19 pandemic were put in jeopardy Monday by the resignation of a Cabinet official formerly at the communications ministry and now under fire for having violated ethics policy by dining with Suga's son.

The meal presented a conflict of interest because Seigo Suga worked at broadcast satellite company Tohokushinsha Film Corp., and was therefore seen as a stakeholder in license authorization by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Makiko Yamada, whose resignation from her role as Cabinet public relations secretary was approved Monday morning, had at the time been a vice minister for policy coordination at the ministry. She was one of 13 high-ranking ministry officials involved in the authorization of licenses for satellite companies who were treated to expensive dinners by executives at Tohokushinsha.