The Cabinet endorsed Tuesday a major reshuffle of key Foreign Ministry officials, including the vice foreign minister and chiefs of bureaus handling issues related to North Korea and the United States, effective Jan. 4, the Foreign Ministry said.
Shotaro Yachi, 60, who serves as assistant deputy chief Cabinet secretary, will replace Yukio Takeuchi, 61, as vice foreign minister and top bureaucrat at the ministry.
Takeuchi, who has led the ministry's bureaucrats since February 2002, is resigning.
Shin Ebihara, 56, head of the North American Affairs Bureau, will take the place of Yachi at the prime minister's office.
Mitoji Yabunaka, 56, director general of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, will be promoted to deputy foreign minister in charge of economic affairs, Japan's sherpa for Group of Eight summits.
Veteran diplomat Kenichiro Sasae, who currently heads the ministry's Economic Affairs Bureau, will replace Yabunaka.
Sasae, 53, will be tasked with making headway in deadlocked negotiations with North Korea over its abductions of Japanese, an issue that has prevented the two countries from resuming talks to establish diplomatic ties.