In tit for tat, Japan asks Russian diplomat to leave country
ISTANBUL (AA) – Just a week after a Japanese political affairs consul was declared persona non grata by Russia, Tokyo has asked a Russian diplomat to leave the country.
The move comes in response to Moscow’s decision last week to declare a Japanese diplomat persona non grata after being “caught red-handed receiving classified information about Russia.”
The expelled consul is attached to Russian Consulate General in norther Japan’s Sapporo area, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.
Last week, Motoki Tatsunori, a consul of the Japanese Consulate General in the Russian Pacific Port city of Vladivostok, was detained on charges of espionage, the Russian Federal Security Service had said.
Tatsunori was caught when he attempted to buy information about Russia’s cooperation with an Asia-Pacific country and the effects of the Western sanctions on the Russian territory Primorye in the Far East region, the security agency said.
A protest note was also sent to the Japanese side through diplomatic channels, it added.
In a video published by the Russian security agency, the Japanese diplomat pleaded guilty.
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