Reappointed Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said early Wednesday one of their key tasks in new Prime Minister Naoto Kan's administration will be to follow through with Japan's agreement with Washington to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa.
The two ministers, however, added that they both reviewed how the previous Cabinet dealt with the issue and may take different approaches to win over the people of Okinawa to the highly contentious relocation plan.
"The biggest regret is that we could not get the understanding of the Okinawan people," Okada told reporters after he was sworn in for his second term. "There may have been other ways of dealing with it, but it is a substantially difficult problem."