The US Defense Department is urging the Japanese government to steadily implement a plan to relocate the Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa, despite the dismissal of a senior Japanese defense official.

Japan's Defense Ministry fired the chief of the Okinawa Defense Bureau, Satoshi Tanaka, on Tuesday over an inappropriate remark he made in connection with the government's plan to relocate the US base.

The Defense Department said in a statement on Tuesday that it is committed to the current agreements and policies on the relocation of Futenma to Nago City, also in Okinawa.

It added that Japanese Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa told US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last month that he planned to proceed with the necessary procedures for the relocation.

Source: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20111130_26.html

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