New Japan PM discusses US base

Japan’s prime minister-elect has reassured relations with the US are intact, promising to “make a strenuous effort” to agree on relocating a contentious US Marine base.

In a phone conversation, US President Barack Obama congratulated Naoto Kan, the former finance minister who will soon lead the country, amid tensions over the US Marine Air Station in Futenma.

Kan promised Obama to “further deepen and develop the Japan-US alliance to tackle global and regional challenges.”

In a statement, the White House said that “the two leaders agreed to work very closely together” on several issues that were discussed, the Associated Press reported.

In an agreement last month, Japan agreed to relocate the base to a less busy side of the island but the former government faced strong oppositions by residents of Okinawa.

Okinawans say they will no longer tolerate incidents involving US marines, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US servicemen in 1995, in the island.

Japan’s previous leader Yukio Hatoyama was unsuccessful to move the base off the island as promised during his campaign and eventually led to his resignation on June 2.