US, Japan Foreign Ministers to meet on Futenma

The US government says it will send Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell to Japan to prepare for a meeting of their foreign ministers. A high US official says the planned meeting will be held in Washington before the end of the year, and the agenda will include the relocation of the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Station. The official says the two countries need to work together on the Futenma issue, according to Japanese (NHK WORLD) Website. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda says his government will relocate the Futenma facility in Okinawa in line with last year''s bilateral agreement while seeking the support of local people. Noda promised this to President Barack Obama when they held their first meeting in New York last month. According to Campbell, Obama made clear to Noda that the two sides understand that they are approaching a period where results need to be seen. In 1996, Japan and the United States agreed to close the Futenma air station once alternative facilities were available. The 2010 agreement calls for building a replacement air station in Henoko, Nago, in Okinawa, but there''s been strong opposition from local people. The planned foreign ministerial meeting is also expected to cover the US-led negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and the selection of Japan''s next mainstay fighter aircraft.