The Yomiuri Shimbun
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Saturday the idea of moving a U.S. airfield in Okinawa Prefecture to Guam was difficult, making it more likely that the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station will be relocated within this country.
While recording a New Year's radio program for Radio Nippon, Hatoyama said: "There might have been a time when we should have considered transferring the functions of the Futenma airfield to Guam. Thinking realistically, however, it would be impossible from the standpoint of deterrence to relocate all its functions to Guam."
Of the different alternatives to the Henoko district in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture--the location to which an existing Japan-U.S. agreement calls for the airfield to be relocated--Guam is the only candidate outside Japan.
The prime minister's remarks effectively expressed his intention to limit possible new spots for the airfield to locations in Japan.
The Social Democratic Party, a partner in the current ruling coalition with Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan, has been demanding the Futenma airfield be moved outside Japan, saying all its functions should be transferred to the U.S. territory of Guam.
Japan and the United States agreed in 2006 to move 8,000 U.S. marines from Okinawa Prefecture to Guam, and Hatoyama said Saturday, "I believe it would be difficult to do more than that."
The government will choose an alternative location through working level consultations with the three ruling parties. The first such meeting is scheduled to be held Monday at the Prime Minister's Office.
The SDP has backed the idea of transferring the functions to Guam. Other locations that have been mentioned inside Japan include Shimojishima island and Iejima island, both in Okinawa Prefecture, as well as Iwoto island, Tokyo.
Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto has said Kansai Airport could be used to accommodate the functions of the Futenma airfield.
However, it is unrealistic to transfer Futenma's functions to places in Okinawa Prefecture other than Nago, such as Shimojishima island or Iejima island, while the suggestion of consolidating Futenma's functions at the U.S. Kadena Air Base also is believed to be difficult.
The U.S. government insists that the current plan for relocating to Henoko is the only possible option.
In connection with the government's vacillating response to the Futenma issue, Hatoyama said he regretted saying too much to the media.
"I often felt like doing a favor for the reporters covering me," Hatoyama said on the radio program. "The meaning of my words often got exaggerated."
"I've been told I shouldn't speak until a decision is made. I know that's true now and I regret [my handling of the media]," the prime minister said.
(Dec. 27, 2009)
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