2006 U.S. forces deal hard to scrap: Okada

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada admitted Monday it would be difficult to "completely scrap" the 2006 Japan-U.S. accord on reorganizing the American forces in Japan that includes the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within Okinawa.

Dress-right: Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada meets U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Terry G. Robling, Okinawa area coordinator, at Kadena air base Monday in Okinawa. KYODO PHOTO

He made the remarks after meeting strong resistance from local governments over his call to consider merging the Futenma flight operations, now in Ginowan, with the nearby U.S. Kadena air base instead of moving the base farther north to Nago, as per the bilateral accord.

At a news conference to wrap up a two-day visit to the prefecture, Okada also said it is still "too early" to talk about the feasibility of moving Futenma's operations to Kadena.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reiterated earlier in the day in Tokyo that Japan will engage in discussions on the Futenma issue with the United States in a high-level working group, without acknowledging that the 2006 accord serves as a premise to transfer the facility to Camp Schwab in a less densely populated area near Nago.

"If there is only one answer from the beginning, then there would be no need for Japan and the United States to discuss the matter," Hatoyama told reporters.

After his first visit to Okinawa since becoming foreign minister in September, Okada is expected to accelerate his study into the feasibility of the Kadena-Futenma merger plan, as he hopes to settle the issue before the year runs out.

But it is uncertain how Japan can work out a clear policy on an issue that has recently put new strains on ties with its key security ally.

On Monday, Okada explained to heads of local governments hosting the Kadena base that the idea to incorporate Futenma's operations with Kadena "is one option that I am considering," while realizing that a reduction in aircraft noise would be a prerequisite.

Tokujitsu Miyagi, mayor of Kadena, of which more than 80 percent of the area is used for the air base and related facilities, told Okada it is impossible for his town to accept the merger proposal.

"(I told Okada that) it's impossible to trust (him) even if I am told that our burden will be reduced," Miyagi told reporters after his meeting with the foreign minister, noting a Japan-U.S. agreement over noise prevention has not been effective.

On the Futenma issue, the U.S. is pressing Japan to swiftly abide by the 2006 bilateral accord to relocate Futenma to Nago, while the new Hatoyama administration has been eager to review the agreement on realigning the U.S. forces in Japan.

But Okada said he must admit he has to consider the 2006 Japan-U.S. accord "as a premise to a certain extent" because it has been agreed to by the two nations.

"It's extremely difficult to discuss (the issue) by starting over with a clean slate when there is already a certain agreement on the U.S. forces realignment," he said.

Under the accord, which took years to reach, the Futenma aircraft operations would be shifted to an airfield to be built in Nago by 2014.

The plan involves constructing two runways in a V pattern straddling a cape adjacent to Camp Schwab. Once the replacement airfield is built, around 8,000 marines and their dependents would be transferred from Okinawa to Guam.

Earlier in the day, Okada visited the Kadena air base, the largest U.S. air base in East Asia. It has two 3,700-meter runways and is home to some 50 F-15 fighters, aerial tankers, rescue helicopters and other aircraft. Residents living nearby have long been frustrated with the noise.

Consolidating Futenma's flight operations, mainly involving helicopters, to Kadena is an idea that has already been considered and dismissed in past negotiations with the U.S.

But Okada has said the shift to Kadena would probably be quicker because new runways would not be needed.