Japan to inform U.S. of policy on Futemma base by Dec. 18: Hatoyama+

TOKYO, Dec. 7 Kyodo - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday that the government would inform the United States of its policy on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture by Dec. 18, when he may meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in Copenhagen, but did not elaborate on how much
substance the information would have.

''I would be grateful if I can meet with President Obama there,'' he told
reporters. ''I would like to explain the government's policy by then in some
way and seek understanding from the United States.''
Asked if he means his conclusion on where to transfer the U.S. Marine Corps'
Futemma Air Station by saying ''the government's policy,'' however, he said,
''I'm not saying so necessarily.''
He made the comments at the premier's office in the evening, after telling
reporters earlier in the day, ''I believe the time has come for us to make a
decision on how to convey the government's way of thinking on the Futemma
relocation issue to the United States.''
The meeting with Obama could take place in the Danish capital where the two
leaders are scheduled to attend the summit of a key U.N. climate change
conference that began Monday and will continue until Dec. 18.
Monday's development has come after Japan apparently put on hold a decision on
where to relocate the Futemma base in Ginowan, Okinawa, until next year, and
told U.S. negotiating partners Friday that Japan cannot make any decision
within this year.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said at a news conference that Hatoyama
meant the government would decide on how to deal with the issue and that he
would give more specific instructions toward achieving a resolution, denying
that the premier will announce any specific relocation plan soon.
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and transport
minister Seiji Maehara, who is also in charge of Okinawa affairs, visited the
prime minister's office in the afternoon to hold talks on the matter with
Hatoyama and Hirano.
Asked if they came to an agreement, Maehara told reporters after the meeting,
''It's still under discussion.''
Amid mounting pressure from Washington, speculation is growing that Japan will
basically stick to the existing deal agreed upon in 2006 between Japan and the
United States to relocate the facility to the coastal area of the Henoko
district in Nago, another Okinawa city, by 2014.
The planned relocation of the Futemma facility is part of a broad Japan-U.S.
accord on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan and is linked to the transfer
of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam, which is another
key realignment plan in the package.
But the prime minister said, ''We've been receiving a request to that effect
(relocating the Futemma facility to Henoko) from the United States, but it's
not so easy as we're a coalition government (with two other parties) and there
are expectations from people in Okinawa.''
One of the two junior partners in the coalition -- the Social Democratic Party
-- is strongly seeking to move the Futemma facility outside Okinawa, as are
many people in the southernmost prefecture, which hosts the bulk of U.S. forces
in Japan.
During a visit to Okinawa over the weekend, Okada told local residents that a
resolution within this year is unlikely and that he will also give up the idea
of merging the Futemma facility with the nearby U.S. Kadena Air Base.
After returning to Tokyo, Okada visited Hatoyama at his official residence
Sunday to inform him that many local residents still want the base moved
outside of the prefecture.
==Kyodo