Apr 13 01:47 AM US/Eastern
(AP) - WASHINGTON, April 12 (Kyodo) — Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday he promised U.S. President Barack Obama a conclusion by the end of May on where to relocate a U.S. Marine base in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture and asked for understanding on the need to ease the base-hosting burden on Okinawa residents.
"I told him that the Japan-U.S. alliance is extremely important and that we are in the process of making efforts toward resolving the Futemma relocation issue," Hatoyama said, referring to the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station.
"I said that we will settle it by the end of May," he told reporters after informal talks with Obama during a working dinner for the two- day Nuclear Security Summit, which began in Washington on Monday.
The premier said he also told Obama that alleviating the burden on the residents of the southernmost prefecture, which has hosted the air station, is "necessary to help develop the Japan-U.S. relationship."
He asked the U.S. president to lend his support to ongoing negotiations between Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos.
With no substantial discussions made on that matter in the latest meeting between Hatoyama and Obama, it has even become more difficult for Tokyo to find a feasible alternative to the existing relocation plan for the U.S. base by his self-imposed end-of-May deadline.
Hatoyama said he did not mention by name any prospective site to Obama. The premier firmly refused to reveal what Obama said during their brief talks, which lasted only about 10 minutes while the two were seated next to each other at the dinner.
"Since we were seated next to each other, we were able to have a quality conversation alone for 10 minutes," he said.
Asked if the conclusion by the deadline means that Tokyo and Washington will have sealed an agreement on that matter, Hatoyama said that a conclusion cannot be reached without contact with the United States.
A National Security Council spokesman in Washington said that the two leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen the alliance as this year marks the 50th anniversary of their revised bilateral security treaty.
The U.S. base row involves a 2006 bilateral deal agreed on by a Liberal Democratic Party-led government to relocate the Futemma airfield to a less-crowded area elsewhere in Okinawa.
The Hatoyama government is now focusing on a plan to transfer the helicopter functions of the U.S. military facility to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, about 200 kilometers north of Okinawa, according to government sources, among other plans believed to have been floated within the almost-seven-month-old government led by the Democratic Party of Japan.
In their meeting Monday, Hatoyama also said he shares the United States' concern over Iran's perceived attempts to develop a nuclear weapon, according to a Japanese government official.
While emphasizing the importance of solving the matter through dialogue, the prime minister suggested that the international community adopt additional measures against Iran if the country fails to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Hatoyama agreed to continue to tackle the issue in close coordination with Obama as Japan assumes the chairmanship of the United Nations Security Council in April, according to the official.
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