TOKYO: Japan’s Okinawa region voted Friday to hold a non-binding referendum on a deeply unpopular plan to relocate a US military base, in the latest twist to a long-running saga.
The decision, by local politicians, comes a month after residents elected a new governor who opposes plans to move the US Marines’ Futenma Air Station from an urban area to a sparsely populated part of the island.
While the referendum has no legal standing, a vote against the move is likely to pile fresh pressure on the central government, which backs the move as the best way to deal with anger in Okinawa about the base.
Okinawa accounts for less than one percent of Japan’s total land area, but hosts more than half of the approximately 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan.
Noise, accidents and crimes committed by military personnel and civilian base employees have long irritated local residents, as has the perceived refusal of other parts of the country to share Okinawa’s burden.
The plan backed by the government would move the base from its current densely populated location to a remote area, partly created by land reclamation.
Opponents do not want the base to remain where it is, but have nevertheless campaigned against the move because they believe it would entrench the US presence on the islands.
They say it should be put elsewhere in Japan, or even shuttered completely.
The construction of the new base “means pursuing national security at the expense of residents’ rights to regional autonomy,” assembly member Ichiro Miyagi said Friday.
Construction work at the new site has been suspended since August, after the Okinawa government retracted its approval for land reclamation.
New governor Denny Tamaki, who has vowed to continue fighting the new air base, will set a date for the referendum, with local media saying it would likely be held before next spring.
Okinawa was the site of a major World War II battle that was followed by a 27-year US occupation of the island.
The archipelago’s location means it is of huge strategic importance for US forward positioning in Asia.
Japan’s Okinawa to hold referendum on US base move
Japan’s Okinawa to hold referendum on US base move
- While the referendum has no legal standing, a vote against the move is likely to pile fresh pressure on the central government
- Noise, accidents and crimes committed by military personnel and civilian base employees have long irritated local residents
South Korea calls for resuming dialogue with North
- President Lee Jae Myung has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North since taking office in June
- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul
SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on Sunday for dialogue with North Korea to resume, after Pyongyang last week shunned the prospect of diplomacy with its neighbor.
Since taking office in June, a dovish Lee has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North, which reaffirmed its anti-Seoul approach during a party meeting last week.
“As my administration has repeatedly made clear, we respect the North’s system and will neither engage in any type of hostile acts, nor pursue any form of unification by absorption,” Lee said in a speech marking the anniversary of a historical campaign against Japan’s colonial rule.
“We will also continue our efforts to resume dialogue with the North,” he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, describing its overtures as “clumsy, deceptive farce and a poor work.”
Speaking at the party congress in Pyongyang, Kim said North Korea has “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots.”
But he also said the North could “get along well” with the United States if Washington acknowledges its nuclear status.
Speculation has mounted over whether US President Donald Trump will seek a meeting with Kim during planned travels to China.
Last year, Trump said he was “100 percent” open to a meeting.
Previous Trump-Kim summits during the US president’s first term fell apart after the pair failed to agree over sanctions relief — and what nuclear concessions North Korea might make in return.
