Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi's advisory panel on ministry reform came up with its final report in late July. On the basis of the panel's recommendations, the ministry this month will formulate an action plan on ways of implementing reform. A spate of scandals involving the ministry have prompted calls for reform.
If the action plan turns out to be a patchwork to protect "ministry interests," the ministry will be unable to restore public confidence in diplomacy, and will face mounting calls from within the governing Liberal Democratic Party to disband the Foreign Ministry.
Kawaguchi, who took up her post in February amid a series of scandals over lawmaker and former LDP member Muneo Suzuki's intervention into ministry policy, announced a 10-point reform plan for more openness in the foreign service. Since then, the reform panel of outside experts has been considering specifics of the plan. The report deals with ways of restoring trust in the scandal-tainted ministry and does not involve Japan's diplomatic strategies.