Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Wednesday he will voluntarily give up one-month's salary in the wake of the alleged misappropriation of 24 million yen in public funds by a senior ministry official for personal stock trading.
Nakagawa said the previous day he admonished Vice Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hideji Sugiyama and Takashi Suzuki, head of the minister's secretariat, over their delay in reporting the embezzlement.
"We have aroused public mistrust over the case. As civil servants, we will strive to regain people's trust as soon as possible," the minister told a press conference.
Nakagawa said he has asked three outside lawyers to conduct a full investigation into the case.
To prevent further misdeeds, Nakagawa also said all ministry employees will be required to report to Suzuki if they wish to engage in stock deals, for one year beginning Friday.
The official, Taizo Nakatomi, who headed the Policy Planning Office at the minister's secretariat until June last year, invested the 24 million yen together with his personal funds in Kanebo Ltd. and other companies' stock around April 2004.
Reports of the alleged fund misuse came a day after Tokyo prosecutors indicted a METI career bureaucrat over a separate case of insider stock trading.