National News
Japan, U.S. agree to set up working group on Futenma relocation issue
The governments of Japan and the United States have agreed to establish a working group to examine the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a new site off the coast of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.
Agreement on the working group -- to include Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates -- was reached between Okada and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos.
The establishment of the working group aims to prevent the Futenma issue from becoming a major stumbling block at the upcoming talks between Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama, who will arrive in Japan on Friday.
However, Roos also emphasized that the United States will continue to call for the base relocation plan to go ahead as agreed.
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(Mainichi Japan) November 11, 2009
