Japan, U.S. to Announce Futenma Base Talks' Outcome on Aug. 30

Washington, Aug. 19 (Jiji Press)--Japan and the United States are
planning to announce as early as Aug. 30 the outcome of their talks on the
replacement facility for a key U.S. Marine base in Okinawa Prefecture,
southern Japan, it was learned Thursday.
Foreign affairs and defense officials from both sides held a
meeting here on the day to make adjustments on a forthcoming statement on
details of the facility to replace the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air
station in Ginowan, sources said.
In a joint statement issued in late May, the two countries
confirmed the Futenma base will be moved to a coastal area of Nago, another
Okinawa city, the same place as in their accord in 2006, and that they will
fix details of the facility by the end of this month.
The Japanese and U.S. governments are set to make final
consultations on the matter in Tokyo next week, the sources said.
From Japan, Koji Tomita, deputy director-general of the Foreign
Ministry's North American Affairs Bureau, and Tetsuro Kuroe, deputy
director-general of the Defense Ministry's Defense Policy Bureau, attended
Thursday's meeting.
U.S. participants included Joseph Donovan, principal deputy
assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Michael
Schiffer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia.
The two sides are expected to have also discussed how they will
proceed with the Futenma base relocation, taking into account a Japan-U.S.
summit expected to be held in September and Okinawa's gubernatorial election
in November.
Also on Thursday, Japanese and U.S. experts held talks on details
of the Futenma relocation plan.


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