TOKYO, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The Obama administration will follow Japan's lead on the issue of relocating a U.S. air base in Okinawa, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday.
"We do understand that it is politically a complex matter in Japan," Gates said during a joint media appearance with Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa in Tokyo. "And we intend to follow the lead of the Japanese government in working with the people of Okinawa to take their interests and their concerns into account."
Gates said he and Japanese leaders also discussed a new anti-missile system the United States is jointly developing with the Japanese, and the two nations' response to North Korea's recent military provocations against South Korea. Last year, North Korea torpedoed the South Korean warship Cheonan, killing 46 sailors, and conducted an artillery assault on Yeongpeong Island, killing two civilians and two South Korean service members.
Preventing another incident is in everyone's interest, Gates said.
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"Every country has the right to protect itself and defend itself against an unprovoked attack," Gates said. "I think the key on the Korean peninsula, as I discussed in China and here in Japan, is to prevent another provocation from happening."
Even though North Korea said it is willing to negotiate with South Korean, the Pyongyang government must show it will change its behavior, Gates said.
"This requires that (North Korea) cease its belligerent behavior and its provocations that have killed innocent victims, both military and civilian, in (South) Korea," he said. "We are supportive of negotiations and engagement between North and South (Korea), but there must be concrete evidence on the part of the North that they are serious about these negotiations."
Concerning the relocation of the Futenma air base, Gates said he didn't want the issue to cloud the broader U.S. security alliance with Japan.
"(While) issues associated with Okinawa and Futenma have tended to dominate the headlines this past year, the U.S.-Japan defense alliance is broader, deeper and indeed richer than any single issue," Gates said. "In this, the 51st year of the U.S.-Japan alliance, it is important to remember that ours is an enduring and equal partnership based on interests and values that unite our two peoples."
Kitazawa confirmed that the countries will implement an agreement struck last year.
Gates is to make a speech Friday on the U.S-Japanese alliance at Keio University before flying to South Korea, the final leg of his three-country Asian mission that began in China.
Gates said the leaders also discussed the U.S.-Japan alliance and its new vision statement.
"It has been about five years since the last vision statement, and the world and circumstances in Northeast Asia have evolved a good deal since then," Gates said. "So it is appropriate to update our alliance at this time."
