Japan-U.S. talks on a relocation site for the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa have entered the final stage, Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono said Tuesday.
The two sides have narrowed the list of candidate sites, the agency's director general told a news conference, and "we're in the final stage of thrashing out which is better."
Ono was referring to conflict over a Tokyo-backed proposal to build an airport within the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab, in Nago, and Washington's hopes to construct it just offshore of the camp.
Ono made the remarks ahead of a meeting in Washington of senior defense officials from the two countries to make a breakthrough on the stalled relocation issue.
The relocation of the base, currently in Ginowan, has long been a source of dispute between the two nations.
Local residents have been calling for a relocation, citing problems with noise, accidents and crimes linked to the base.
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