Defense Agency chief Toshitsugu Saito said Friday that he will urge the U.S. military to take steps to prevent unruly behavior following Tuesday's arrest of a Marine suspected of lifting up a high school girl's skirt.
"The incident is regrettable," Saito told a news conference. "The head of the Naha Regional Defense Facilities Administration Bureau has lodged a protest against the U.S. military and asked them to take steps to prevent a recurrence. I will also do so when I get the chance."
A senior vice minister in the Cabinet also called on the United States to severely punish U.S. military personnel who cause problems.
Seiji Nakamura, vice minister in charge of Okinawa development and the settlement of territorial disputes concerning islands to the North of Hokkaido, made the request in a meeting at the Cabinet Office with Christopher La Fleur, minister counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Japan.
Police arrested Raven Gogol, a 21-year-old corporal at Camp Hansen in northern Okinawa, on suspicion of molesting a 16-year-old girl. Gogol is alleged to have suddenly lifted up the girl's skirt and taken a photo as she was sitting by a bed of flowers.
He has denied the allegations, the police said.
The assembly of the town of Kin, where Camp Hansen is located, passed a resolution Friday urging the U.S. military to tighten discipline among its personnel.
Okinawa accounts for only 0.6 percent of Japan's total land area, but is home to about 75 percent of the U.S. military facilities in the country.