Hatoyama, Obama agree to seek speedy settlement of U.S. base issue+

TOKYO, Nov. 14 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed
Friday to seek an early settlement on where to relocate a U.S. military
airfield in Japan's Okinawa, but the move was interpreted as sidestepping a
potential flashpoint that could undermine the countries' security alliance.

While the two leaders referred to each other by their first names during a
joint press conference after their summit talks in Tokyo, uncertainties remain
over how they will be able to reach common ground on the issue of the U.S.
Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station.
A Japanese government official said during the talks Obama had expressed the
view that it would be desirable to stick to an existing deal agreed between
Tokyo and Washington in 2006 despite Japan's hope to pursue an alternative
plan.
Obama said that a high-level working group, which the two countries agreed to
establish to discuss the issue just days before his first visit to Japan as
president, will ''focus on the implementation of the agreement that our two
governments reached.''
''We hope to complete this work expeditiously,'' he said.
Obama also insisted that the United States and Japan are ''equal partners,'' as
desired by the new Japanese government, and added that ''mutual interest and
mutual respect'' is reflected in the Japan-U.S. alliance as well as in
resolving the base realignment issue related to Futemma.
''Our goal remains the same. And that's to provide for the defense of Japan
with minimal intrusion on the lives of the people who share this space,'' he
added.
Hatoyama, meanwhile, said that he told Obama during their talks that he would
like the working group to reach a conclusion ''as soon as possible.''
But he also sought understanding on the difficulty of dealing with the issue,
related to a bilateral agreement reached when his Democratic Party of Japan was
not in power.
''I have told (President Obama) that it is a fact that we have said, especially
to the people of Okinawa, that we will seek to move (Futemma) outside the
prefecture, or outside Japan,'' Hatoyama said.
''There is no doubt that there are great difficulties associated with the
issue, but I understand it will become more difficult to resolve the issue if
time passes,'' he said.
Under a bilateral accord struck in May 2006, the heliport functions of Futemma
Air Station in a downtown residential area of Ginowan are set to be moved to a
less densely populated area in Nago, northern Okinawa, by 2014.
The United States is calling for Japan to swiftly implement the existing deal.
But the new Japanese government, launched in September, has hoped to review the
planned realignment of U.S. forces in Japan as part of its policy to seek more
''equal'' Japan-U.S. ties.
Obama arrived in Japan earlier Friday. He will deliver a speech on U.S. policy
toward Asia on Saturday. He will then travel to Singapore, China and South
Korea.
The small island prefecture of Okinawa, which remained under U.S. occupation
after the war, accounts for about 75 percent of the land area used for U.S.
military facilities in Japan. Okinawa was returned to Japan in 1972.
Noise, crimes involving U.S. military personnel and environmental pollution
have led to opposition among local people and Okinawa has called for the burden
of hosting U.S. military facilities to be reduced.
==Kyodo
2009-11-14 01:32:18