Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga apologized to Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga during talks Saturday in Tokyo for calls by members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its associates to destroy or attack the funding of his prefecture's two main newspapers for reporting critically on the government's security bills, the governor said.

Onaga and Suga also agreed to continue discussing their differences over a U.S.-Japan plan to relocate a U.S. military base within the prefecture, the governor told reporters after the meeting, which was held at a Tokyo hotel.

"It was good" that Suga offered an apology, Onaga said, adding, "It will serve as a basis for several rounds of talks down the road."