The United States will immediately notify Japan if a service member in the country deserts or otherwise goes absent without leave and will authorize police to take that person into custody if found, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Friday.
The U.S. agreed to this condition, based on a special Japanese criminal law related to the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement, in the wake of a recent spate of serious crimes allegedly committed by servicemen, including the March slaying of a taxi driver in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, for which a suspected U.S. Navy deserter is being held, according to the Foreign Ministry.
"The Japanese government will be notified, too," Komura told reporters Friday morning.