Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida plans to hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington next week to pave the way for a planned visit in April by President Barack Obama, a government source said Tuesday.

Kishida is expected to reaffirm the Abe administration's position in the Feb. 7 meeting that it will steadily implement the accord to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa.

The administration's plan to relocate the base from the densely populated area of Ginowan to the city of Nago was dealt a blow Jan. 19 when Susumu Inamine, an opponent of the planned relocation, was re-elected mayor of Nago.