TORONTO (Kyodo) Japan and the United States agreed Sunday to proceed with the relocation of the Futenma air base in Okinawa in line with their accord reached in May, while working closely on responses to North Korea's sinking of a South Korean warship and Iran's nuclear quest.
During their first formal meeting, held during the Group of 20 summit in Canada, Prime Minister Naoto Kan and President Barack Obama reaffirmed the importance of the security alliance between the two countries.
"We both noted the significance of 50 years of a U.S.-Japan alliance that has been a cornerstone not only of our two nations' security but also of peace and prosperity throughout Asia," Obama said afterward.
Kan said the Japan-U.S. alliance has played "an indispensable role" in ensuring peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Kan and Obama took up the issue of relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and shared the view that Tokyo and Washington will proceed with the issue based on a fresh bilateral accord announced by the two countries May 28.
The deal stipulates that Futenma's flight operations, now carried out in a crowded residential area in Ginowan, will be moved to a less densely populated coastal zone in Nago, roughly in line with the initial U.S.-Japan agreement struck in 2006.
Kan is facing a tough challenge in appeasing local opposition to the plan, particularly after his predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, raised hopes for moving the base out of the prefecture, or even out of Japan.
In Sunday's talks, Obama reportedly told Kan that he realized it is not an easy issue for Tokyo and that he would make efforts to get U.S. forces more accepted in the region.
