Japan to pay $8bn over next 5 years to host US forces

Japan and the United States on Friday inked a deal stipulating the budget for hosting U.S. forces here will be maintained by Tokyo.

At a signing ceremony held in the capital, the Japanese government retired its stance that its military cooperation with the U.S. remained essential.

"The presence of U.S. forces in Japan is indispensable for the security of Japan and for the peace and security of the region," Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said.

Kishida cited an increasingly severe security situation in the region, in light of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) nuclear test earlier this month.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, for her part, said at the ceremony that the U.S.-Japan alliance remained steadfast

"The agreement will ensure that U.S. forces will maintain the highest operational readiness and most comprehensive training in fulfilling our treaty obligations to Japan," Kennedy said, adding that, "The U.S. and Japan alliance has never been stronger in all its dimensions."

It was agreed at the end of last year that Japan would continue with its financial commitment to host U.S. forces here at the current annual level of 190 billion yen (1.61 billion U.S. dollars) annually.

In the next five years Japan will shoulder a bill estimated to be around 946.5 billion yen (8.02 billion U.S. dollars), higher than the 933.2 billion yen shelled out over the last five years.

While Japan had initially pushed to reduce its U.S. base-hosting costs, its ally wanted the budget upped to support its planned security pivot to Asia.

Source: XINHUA