Okada says he hopes for year-end settlement of U.S. base issue+

NAHA, Japan, Nov. 15 Kyodo -
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Sunday that he hopes his government will
reach a conclusion by the end of the year on the thorny issue of where to
relocate a U.S. military airfield in Okinawa as he visited the prefecture for
the first time since assuming the Cabinet post.

But Okada said it would be difficult to respond to calls from Okinawa to move
the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station outside the prefecture, although
Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima told him earlier in the day that local
expectations of that idea are ''strong.''
Okada told Nakaima that he is conducting an ''intensive'' study on the
feasibility of relocating the Futemma facility to the nearby U.S. Kadena Air
Base -- an idea he has earlier referred to as a possible option to consider
instead of abiding by an existing bilateral accord agreed between Japan and the
United States.
''As a plan involving Kadena existed in the past, I'm studying for what reason
it has been dismissed and whether there is no possibility at all (now to
realize it),'' Okada said during the talks with Nakaima which were open to the
media.
Okada also said he is ''fully aware'' that the government ''cannot spend much
time'' in seeking a solution to the issue, as the dangerous situation in which
a military facility is located in a crowded residential area should not be left
unattended.
Under a 2006 Japan-U.S. accord, which took years to reach, the Futemma
functions are to be relocated from downtown Ginowan to the U.S. Marines' Camp
Schwab in the less densely populated area of Nago in northern Okinawa, by 2014.
The plan involves the construction of two runways in the coastal area of Camp
Schwab, which Okada also visited Sunday.
Ties between Tokyo and Washington have been strained over the base issue with
the new Japanese government led by the Democratic Party of Japan hoping to
review the planned realignment of U.S. forces in the country as part of its
policy to seek more ''equal'' Japan-U.S. ties.
Speaking at a press conference after finishing the day's itinerary, Okada said
that he told Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro that he does not intend to set a
deadline for the issue, but he ''personally wants to reach a conclusion by the
end of the year'' partly because Japan and the United States have agreed to
seek a settlement expeditiously.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has yet to work out a clear government policy on
the issue, but expectations have remained in Okinawa that the government may
seek to move the Futemma facility outside the prefecture, or even outside
Japan, because the DPJ advocated such an idea before becoming the ruling party.
But Okada told the press conference that negotiating the transfer of the
Futemma facility outside the prefecture would take time, possibly five or 10
years.
''If we can find a plan to relocate it outside the prefecture that would not
take time, that would be wonderful. But I'm afraid that we do not see any such
thing at the moment,'' he said.
Instead, Okada said that merging the heliport functions of Futemma with Kadena,
which are already equipped with runways, would likely take less time than the
existing plan, but noted that there is strong opposition among local people to
the merger.
On Monday, Okada will go to Kadena Air Base and meet heads of local governments
that host the largest U.S. air base in East Asia. It has two 3,700-meter
runways and is home to around 50 F-15 fighters, air refueling tankers and
rescue helicopters.
The United States has opposed merging the bases, citing difficulties in mixing
Air Force operations with those of the Marines.
The small island prefecture of Okinawa, which remained under U.S. occupation
after World War II until being returned to Japan in 1972, hosts the bulk of
U.S. military facilities. Okinawa accommodates about 75 percent of the land
area used for U.S. military facilities in Japan.
Noise, crimes involving U.S. military personnel and environmental pollution
have prompted local people to oppose the heavy U.S. military presence, and
Okinawa has called for the burden associated with hosting such facilities to be
reduced.
==Kyodo