Photo/Illutration The Singapore Embassy in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on May 1 (Shoko Mifune)

Singapore’s foreign ministry has suspended a former diplomat stationed in Japan after he was exposed for taking photos of naked males at public bathhouses in Tokyo, the Singaporean Embassy told The Asahi Shimbun.

The embassy said the ministry will “thoroughly investigate the matter” and will consider relinquishing the man’s diplomatic immunity, meaning he may be ordered to return to Tokyo for questioning by Japanese police.

The man had completed his term as counselor at the embassy as of April 12, and returned to Singapore in mid-April, the embassy said on May 3.

The Asahi Shimbun ran a story on May 2 about the Singaporean counselor being questioned by police on a voluntary basis at a “sento” public bathhouse in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on the evening of Feb. 27.

He had been caught using his smartphone to take photos of a naked boy in the changing room at the facility, according to police sources.

The man identified himself as a diplomat to police officers and admitted to taking the secret photos, the sources said.

He expressed regret and voluntarily deleted about 700 illicit photos on his smartphone, they said.

But he refused to accompany the officers to a police station, and left the scene.

Officers could not detain him because he had diplomatic immunity, which exempts envoys from arrests and trials in the country where they are stationed.

The Singaporean diplomat did not report the incident to the ministry until after the Asahi report was published.

Investigative authorities in Japan did not provide information about the matter to the Singapore government, the ministry said.

Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department, in coordination with the National Police Agency and the Foreign Ministry, has decided to ask the embassy to have the former counselor show up for an interview.

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