Latest news with #BoardOfAudit
NHK
6 days ago
- Business
- NHK
Japan's audit board: Many P-1 patrol planes unusable due to failures
Japan's Board of Audit has found that many of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's domestically-developed P-1 patrol aircraft, which cost a massive amount of taxpayers' money, remain unusable. P-1 patrol planes are used to search for suspicious submarines and vessels. They were developed and manufactured in Japan as a successor to the US-developed P-3C aircraft. A total of 35 P-1 planes were deployed from fiscal year 1991 through 2023, at a cost of more than 1.77 trillion yen, or about 12.2 billion dollars. The board said many of the aircraft are not in a condition where they are ready for their missions and where all the devices are functioning without any problems. Due to security reasons, the board did not give any details such as how many of the aircraft are unusable. But it said some of the aircraft cannot load certain types of weapons due to design flaws and that they require replacement parts. The board also said a certain ratio of aircraft engines are always left unusable after they become corroded by salt in the air during flight. The board told the Defense Ministry, the Maritime Staff Office and the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency to improve the situation. The Defense Ministry said it will take the argument to heart and work to make usable as many aircraft as possible. It said, however, that alternative aircraft are readily available so the situation has not undermined Japan's defense.
South China Morning Post
14-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Yoon on trial: what's at stake in largest special investigation in South Korean history?
Legal troubles for disgraced South Korean former president Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, are expected to intensify as sweeping special counsel investigations targeting the couple are set to begin in the coming weeks. Already under investigation by prosecutors and police on multiple charges, the pair now face what is expected to become the largest special counsel investigation in South Korea's constitutional history. More than 500 investigators and officials will be mobilised to look into three major scandals that dogged Yoon throughout his presidency. Cho Eun-suk, former acting chief of the Board of Audit and Inspection, has been appointed to lead the investigation into Yoon's martial law declaration last December that ultimately led to his impeachment in April. Police officers on standby as the prosecution raided the residence of former president Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul on April 30. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap The focus will be on potential charges of insurrection and abuse of military authority.
