Lt. Gen. Burton Field, commander of U.S. forces in Japan, said Thursday the plan to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko remains valid.
The people of Okinawa are bitterly opposed to what they call the world's most dangerous base staying on Okinawa Island — especially in densely populated Futenma.
"We agreed to develop a replacement for the Futenma airfield and that is indeed up in the Henoko area of Camp Schwab. That is still our agreement, that is still the position of both the U.S. and the central government of Japan that that's the best solution for the issue of Futenma," Field said, summarizing more than a decade of bilateral talks over the issue.