Japan's MSDF gets shake up

TOKYO, March 21 (UPI) -- The chief of Japan's scandal-marred Maritime Self-Defense Force was replaced Friday in a shake-up by Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Ishiba replaced Adm. Eiji Yoshikawa with Adm. Keiji Akahoshi, currently the MSDF's district headquarters commandant, Kyodo news service reported.

The report said the salaries of 88 others were cut as part of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fuda's government to restore public confidence in the MSDF, which has been hit by a series of fiascoes since last year.

Those include last month's collision between an Aegis destroyer and a tuna fishing boat, leak of confidential data related to the Aegis radar system within the MSDF and a major fire aboard the destroyer Shirane in December, the report said.

Fukuda said he hoped the latest steps would encourage "the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces to renew themselves."

The defense minister said he also will voluntarily return part of his salary for March and April.