Japan PM Takaichi vows not to dismiss education minister over affair with woman
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Education Minister Yohei Matsumoto apologised and expressed remorse for his actions.
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TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on March 12 that she will not dismiss education minister Yohei Matsumoto despite reports that he had an affair with a married woman.
“I would like him to repay us through work,” she said during a House of Representatives budget committee session, adding: “I hope he fulfils his duties to the utmost.”
If Mr Matsumoto, 52, had been replaced, he would have become the first Cabinet member to step down since Ms Takaichi took office in October.
Mr Matsumoto apologised and expressed remorse for his actions, but said he would not resign, after accounts of the affair were published online by weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun.
“It was in the past. I was reprimanded by my wife and apologised,” he said during the session, adding that the issue “has already been resolved within the family”. KYODO NEWS
