Go to the media bankConsul of the Consulate General of Japan in Vladivostok Motoki Tatsunori at Vladivostok International Airport. File photoTOKYO, Sep 30Japan is considering retaliatory measures against the expulsion of its diplomat from Vladivostok, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Friday. the announcement of this consular officer persona non grata is hard to believe. We have already protested to the Russian side and continue to insist that it be taken seriously,» he added. The minister also said that the diplomat left Russia on September 28, but has not yet arrived in Japan On September 26, the FSB announced that it had detained Japanese consul Motoki Tatsunori in Vladivostok for collecting classified information. The diplomat was caught red-handed while receiving, for a monetary reward, information of limited distribution about the current aspects of Russia's cooperation with one of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, the impact of the Western sanctions policy on the economic situation in Primorsky Krai. In a video published by the FSB, the diplomat pleaded guilty to violating Russian law. Japan protested through diplomatic channels, and the consul himself was declared persona non grata. The diplomat was ordered to leave Russia within 48 hours. On Tuesday, Hayashi announced the inadmissibility of the detention of the Japanese consul in Russia and that the actions of Russian law enforcement officers during the detention of a diplomatic mission employee allegedly did not comply with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the Japanese-Soviet Convention on Consular Relations . According to him, Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin was summoned to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, where he was strongly protested demanding an official apology. The ambassador confirmed to RIA Novosti that he had been invited to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, where he outlined Russia's position and called the actions of the Japanese diplomat diplomatic status. The Russian side also protested to Japan in connection with the activities of its diplomat in Vladivostok.
