Japan Denies Washington Post Claim Chinese Hackers Infiltrated Its Defense Ministry

The government of Japan claimed it could not confirm any instance of cyberattacks compromising sensitive intelligence in the hands of the Ministry of Defense on Tuesday, a response to a Washington Post article the day before citing anonymous sources who claimed Japan’s cybersecurity was “shockingly bad.”

The Post report, based on conversations with three alleged “former senior U.S. officials,” claimed that Japan had long suffered from a poor reputation internationally as a “spy heaven” due to its inability to prevent security leaks but that, under the administrations of conservative former President Donald Trump and far-left President Joe Biden, Tokyo had experienced a series of severe cyberattacks believed to come from China. Concern over Tokyo’s apparent failure in protecting intelligence meant that American and other Western allies did not feel comfortable sharing security information, often including pivotal intelligence that could help protect the region.

Breaking news | In the fall of 2020, the National Security Agency made an alarming discovery: Chinese military hackers had compromised classified defense networks of the United States’ most important strategic ally in East Asia.https://t.co/VQYYwCZrBD

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 7, 2023

Japan is one of America’s closest geopolitical allies in East Asia and a key cooperative actor against growing Chinese belligerence, particularly communist China’s illicit claims to territory in the South China Sea. Under conservative Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, the Japanese government has endeavored to increase cooperation with America and elevate its participation on global issues that Washington prioritizes, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kishida, whose nation has remained technically in a state of war against Russia since World War II, made a surprise visit to Kyiv in March and has vowed to offer humanitarian aid to the country during the extended invasion.

In the East China Sea, Beijing illegally claims Japan’s Senkaku Islands. China illegally established an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the uninhabited islands in 2013, requiring Japanese aircraft to identify themselves to China in Japanese airspace. It has yet to take any significant measures to enforce the ADIZ, however.

As a result of China’s threats to Japan and the close relationship between Washington and Tokyo developed after World War II, intelligence sharing on defense between American and Japanese agencies has become increasingly important. The Washington Post‘s sources claimed, however, that Japan’s shortcomings in cybersecurity had significantly compromised American trust in the country.

The newspaper highlighted an alleged Chinese military hack into Japanese computer systems in 2020, which it claimed gave Beijing “deep, persistent access and appeared to be after anything they could get their hands on — plans, capabilities, assessments of military shortcomings.” One anonymous source told the Post the extensive access to the content in question was “shockingly bad.”

Part of the problem, the Washington Post claimed, was a matter of trust: American officials needed access to Japanese defense networks to prove the breaches and Japanese officials feared that the warning was an attempt by Washington to access critical information it should not be privy to. Despite this, Japanese officials told the Post that they were invested heavily in cyber-defense to prevent future hackings.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu responded to the Washington Post report on Tuesday by refusing to offer any details, but insisting, “We have not confirmed that any classified information held by the Ministry of Defense has been leaked because of a cyberattack.”

“Cybersecurity is the foundation for maintaining and strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance, and we will continue to work firmly on it,” Matsuno added.

The Japanese government also stated elsewhere that it was planning to invest $7 billion over five years into expanding its cybersecurity operations, a potential acknowledgment that its security mechanisms need improvement.

Japan’s Kyodo News, citing an anonymous “source familiar with the matter,” reported Tuesday that Kishida’s government is also seeking to dramatically increase its defense spending. Japan’s post-World War II constitution prevents it from maintaining an army, leaving it only with its “Self-Defense Forces,” but the Defense Ministry is reportedly preparing to request that lawmakers approve a $49 billion defense budget for the next year, the most spent on defense by the country in a single year if approved.

“The upcoming budget request, to be made later in the month, will include funds to accelerate the introduction of homemade, long-range missiles, as the country has vowed to acquire the ability to strike enemy territory, called ‘counterstrike capabilities,'” Kyodo reported.

China is paramount on Japan’s list of national security concerns for a number of reasons including China’s false claims in the East China Sea, its belligerent activity around Japan, and its longstanding alliance with North Korea, which regularly threatens a nuclear attack on Tokyo. Kishida, in particular, has made efforts to improve Japan’s ties to South Korea in light of the joint threat from China and North Korea, a task posing a significant challenge given wartime crimes Imperial Japan committed against Koreans, which remain a point of contention between the two countries. Kishida traveled to Seoul in May for a meeting with fellow conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol, during which he addressed, but did not apologize for, Imperial Japan’s mass enslavement of Koreans.

“I personally feel my heart ache at the thought of countless people having gone through very challenging and sad times under extreme conditions,” Kishida said.

Yoon emphasized the need to cooperate on defense issues of mutual concern during the meeting.

“Cooperation and coordination between South Korea and Japan are essential not only for the common interests of the two countries but also for world peace and prosperity in the face of the current severe international situation,” Yoon said Sunday. “We should stay away from thinking that we must not make a step forward because our history issues aren’t settled completely.”