Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga asked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday to set up a meeting between him and U.S. President Barack Obama, days after an American base worker reportedly admitted to raping and murdering a Japanese woman in the prefecture.

Arranging the meeting would be "difficult," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference following a meeting between Onaga and Abe in Tokyo. "We think that issues related to security and diplomacy should be discussed between the central governments of the countries."

Onaga told reporters after the meeting that he also called for a "drastic review" of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, the accord that defines the handling of U.S. military and other personnel in Japan.