Japan sees no need to alter the realignment plan for the U.S. military in Japan, Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda said Monday, responding to a suggestion last week by the U.S. Marine Corps chief that modifications should be considered.
"The realignment of U.S. forces in Japan is a plan to be steadily implemented according to the road map agreed upon between Japan and the United States in 2006," the ministry's top bureaucrat told a news conference.
"This point has recently been confirmed" between Prime Minister Taro Aso and President Barack Obama, Masuda said.
Reacting to remarks by U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway, Masuda said, "The contents of Commandant Conway's remarks and where they are positioned inside the U.S. government are unclear."
Kevin Maher, the U.S. consul general in Okinawa Prefecture, said there was no possibility of reviewing the road map.