Regardless of the outcome of the U.S. presidential race, Japan will continue talks with the new administration regarding Okinawa Prefecture's demand for a 15-year limit on the U.S. military's use of a planned new airfield there, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Thursday.
Tokyo's policy toward North Korea will also remain unchanged, even if George W. Bush becomes the first Republican president in eight years, Fukuda said during an interview marking his recent appointment as Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's new right-hand man.
"It will be the same as we have been saying so far," Fukuda said of Japan's position on the 15-year time limit. "Even if there is a switch of administration (from Democrats to Republicans), I don't think our basic position will change."