Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda shocked the political arena Friday by stepping down for mishandling the issue of public pension premiums that some Cabinet members -- including himself -- failed to pay.
"I'm deeply ashamed of having led people to lose their trust in politics," the prime minister's right-hand man said at the end of a regular morning news conference.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda was named Fukuda's successor.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.