Apr 21 08:51 AM US/Eastern
(AP) - TOKYO, April 21 (Kyodo) - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Wednesday that he has no plans to alter his self-imposed deadline of May 31 for resolving a dispute over where to relocate a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa, saying his government is making all-out efforts to attain the goal.
On his own responsibility should he fail to settle the dispute by then, Hatoyama said during a parliamentary debate, "I will work hard to realize all policies by staking my job (as prime minister) on it."
Hatoyama also suggested that the government will pursue relocating the Futemma Air Station to Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, saying, "It would not be appropriate for the Marines to be moved too far (from Okinawa)."
But with the mayors of the three towns on the island having rejected the government's request the previous day for a meeting to discuss the matter, it appears almost impossible for the government to resolve the row by the deadline.
During a one-on-one debate with opposition leaders in the Diet, Hatoyama said his desire to seek the Futemma base's relocation outside of Okinawa remains unchanged.
"We must try to reduce the burdens on the people of Okinawa as much as possible," he said in response to a question from main opposition Liberal Democratic Party President Sadakazu Tanigaki.
Hatoyama apologized to the residents of Tokunoshima, which the government is eyeing as a possible relocation site for the Futemma base although it has yet to announce it officially, for causing them concern.
Hatoyama also indicated he would visit Okinawa at an appropriate time over the matter.
The prime minister dismissed a bilateral agreement with the United States to move the Futemma base in Ginowan to a coastal area of the Marines' Camp Schwab in Nago, also in Okinawa, saying, "I've wiped that notion (of implementing the accord or a modified version of it) from my mind."
"When I think about the people of the prefecture and Japanese-U.S. security arrangements in the true sense of the word, I believe the day will come when people will say, 'This decision (to move Futemma outside of Okinawa) was right'," he told reporters in the evening.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister reiterated his pledge to settle the dispute, alluding to clear skies associated with the month of May. "While the weather may be harsh now, we must bring about clear May weather by the end of the month without fail," he told reporters.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano expressed hope for a meeting with the mayors of Tokunoshima, saying at a morning news conference, "If we work hard now, there's a good possibility (of meeting with the mayors)."
Hirano also admitted that he called Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Tuesday but declined to elaborate on the content of their discussion.
Hirano is believed to have asked the governor to be prudent about attending a local rally scheduled for Sunday, to which organizers are hoping to draw 100,000 people to oppose the relocation of the base within the southernmost prefecture.
On an idea he says he has in mind regarding where to move the Futemma base, Hatoyama said during the debate he cannot disclose it yet. "It would cause trouble (for a potential relocation site) if we were to tell them that it will be done this way, unless the U.S. side has expressed understanding of it," he said.
The government has "no additional plan in mind" other than the Tokunoshima idea, a government source said earlier in the day.
Regarding his remarks Wednesday that the Marines should not be relocated too far from Okinawa, Hatoyama was later asked if he had changed his view regarding the deterrence that the Marines stationed on the island are said to provide given that he had previously mentioned the possibility of even moving the Futemma base abroad.
"I had been long aware of the importance of deterrence, but such awareness has deepened since I entered government, as I got to understand various kinds of information," he told reporters in the evening.
The Hatoyama government, which came to power last September, has spent months reexamining the bilateral agreement to relocate the Futemma base to Nago -- a move the United States has consistently called for.
While the government has yet to officially announce an alternative proposal, the idea, according to government sources, is to transfer Futemma's helicopter unit to Tokunoshima, about 200 kilometers northeast of the main island of Okinawa.
But the mayors of the Tokunoshima towns have dismissed the idea in light of last Sunday's mass protest on the island, in which organizers said about 15,000 people, more than half the island's population, participated to oppose the potential relocation of the base there.
During the Diet debate, Hatoyama said he places priority on removing the dangers posed by the Futemma base to nearby residents, saying his government will make maximum efforts toward the eventual return of the base site to the Japanese side in 2014.
Under the current deal, which forms a pillar of a broader agreement forged between Japan and the United States in 2006, the base site would be returned to Japan upon completion of the relocation.
The relocation plan is linked to another pillar, the transfer of about 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam. The completion of the new airfield in Nago and the Marines' transfer to Guam are targeted for 2014.
Hatoyama said he set the May 31 deadline because missing it would affect the Marine transfer to the U.S. territory, adding, "Such concern will be wiped away if we come up with an answer."
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