Masayoshi Son (Japanese name: Son Masayoshi), chairman of Japan's SoftBank Group (SBG), reportedly responded to a ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) official who insisted that Line Yahoo should become part of Japan's infrastructure by saying, "I will take responsibility," according to the Mainichi Shimbun on the 21st.
According to the report, Son and Akira Amari, head of the LDP's Economic Security Promotion Headquarters, met around March to April. At that time, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications had issued two administrative guidance notices to Line Yahoo demanding enhanced cybersecurity due to the leakage of 510,000 personal data records. This administrative guidance included a demand to review the capital relationship of Line Yahoo, sparking controversy over whether Japan was trying to wrest management control from Naver, the parent company of Line Yahoo.
After receiving the first administrative guidance in March, Line Yahoo submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications a set of recurrence prevention measures, including reducing outsourcing to Naver and separating systems by December 2026. However, these measures did not include any content regarding the review of capital relationships. The ministry deemed the measures "lacking in specificity and insufficient in effectiveness" and issued another administrative guidance in April.
Regarding these two unusual administrative guidance notices, a SoftBank executive told the Mainichi Shimbun, "We felt the government's strong will to 'review the capital structure.' We never expected them to delve this deeply."
In this context, Amari told Son during their meeting, "You may choose the method, but please ensure that Japan's infrastructure, from app development onward, can be done entirely within Japan." Son reportedly promised, "I will take responsibility," according to the Mainichi Shimbun.
It was also revealed that the Japanese government separately summoned the SoftBank president and requested that SoftBank purchase Line Yahoo's shares from Naver. The Mainichi Shimbun reported, "In the March administrative guidance, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications effectively demanded that Naver reduce its investment ratio in Line Yahoo and transfer management rights to SoftBank," adding, "The ministry also separately summoned Junichi Miyakawa, SoftBank's CEO, and repeatedly requested cooperation."
With the Japanese government and ruling party officials directly demanding SoftBank to acquire shares from Naver, it appears difficult for the government to avoid controversy over interfering in the management rights of a private company.
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