A video circulating on social media of the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) destroyer Izumo may be fake, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said Tuesday.
The video purports to show the Izumo docked at the MSDF's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture. While the video appears to have been taken by a drone, drone flights are banned in principle around the base.
"We are analyzing the video, including the possibility that it was processed or fabricated with malicious intent," Kihara told a news conference. "We strictly monitor (drone activities around the Yokosuka base) on a regular basis," he added.
MSDF chief Adm. Ryo Sakai said at a separate news conference, "We are currently investigating whether the video is fake and fabricated."
"We must have responded appropriately to any radio waves controlling a drone" around the base, Sakai said.
