Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka tried Tuesday to clarify earlier comments by saying she did not mean to suggest she had instructed the ministry's senior bureaucrats to reinvestigate allegations that a diplomat who served in Australia several years ago misused public funds.
"I did not give any specific instructions for a reinvestigation into this case," Tanaka told a news conference. "I believe that information on scandals in general should be disclosed in a way that will satisfy taxpayers."
he foreign minister also said the ministry will cooperate with investigations handled by the police and probe internally any media reports of alleged scandals.