US Futenma air base in Japan needs repair

Japan and the United States agreed last month that large-scale repair work is necessary at the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, several bilateral sources said. According to Japan's (Kyodo) News Agency, repairs will extend the usable years of the controversial base, whose planned relocation to another part of the prefecture has been stalled by local opposition, raising the odds the US military base may remain at its current location in the center of the city of Ginowan for the indefinite future. The agreement to carry out extensive repairs was reached during bilateral vice ministerial-level talks of foreign and defense officials in late February in Tokyo, according to the sources.