HANOI (Kyodo) Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said Friday that he and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton State Hillary Clinton agreed in their meeting that it is important to gain the support of the people of Okinawa for the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within the prefecture.
Okada added that he and Clinton also agreed that an expert study on details of the plan to relocate the base will be held as scheduled by late August.
Under a bilateral accord on the base transfer reached in May, experts from the two countries are scheduled to finalize the relocation plan by the end of August, but Tokyo has suggested the work may be delayed due to local opposition. A recent report indicated the government wants to await the results of this fall's from Okinawa gubernatorial election.