Japan's espionage under journalistic cover "unacceptable": Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Japan's conducting intelligence activities under the guise of journalism is "unacceptable," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday.

"This is not an isolated incident," she said. "Similar cases have occurred quite recently."

Earlier, Russia arrested Imai Yuki, a Japanese correspondent working at the bureau of the Japanese newspaper Hokkaido Shimbun in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and accused him of spying.

Zakharova said Tokyo's attempts to use its correspondents stationed in Russia to collect intelligence were regrettable and further undermined Russia-Japan relations.