Japan party leader wants Futenma off Okinawa

[unhappycamper]

Japan party leader wants Futenma off Okinawa
By Eric Talmadge - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 16, 2009 9:27:53 EST

NAHA, Japan — The leader of one of Japan’s ruling coalition parties said Wednesday she wants a U.S. Marine base moved off the southern island of Okinawa, deepening a dispute with Washington over the future of the airfield.

Mizuho Fukushima, head of the left-leaning Social Democratic Party, said that as a member of the Cabinet she supports the closure and removal of the base.

“I am optimistic something can be done to move the base off Okinawa or out of the country,” she said after a meeting with Okinawa’s governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, in the local capital of Naha.

Added Nakaima: “I also think it would be best if the base could be moved off Okinawa.”

The future of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma has become a heated dispute between the two allies. Washington wants Tokyo to stick to an agreement forged with Japan’s previous government in 2006 to move the base to a different part of the Japanese island, but Tokyo’s new leaders have suggested it be moved elsewhere.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_marines_futenma_update_121609/



unhappycamper comment: I'll bet the recent South Korea activity was to set up alternative bases in case Japan tells us to take a hike.