AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
Tokyo: A Japanese city said Friday it will refuse to host Patriot interceptor missiles, which US forces have proposed installing for the first time in the country amid fears over North Korea. The city assembly of Kadena in the southern island chain of Okinawa passed a resolution saying it rejected any greater presence of US troops.
“The deployment of the Patriot would worsen both the damage stemming from (US) bases and the burden on residents as it would increase the number of military drills,” the resolution says. “Residents can never accept any further burden from the base.”
City representatives will present the resolution to government bodies, a municipal official said.
Japanese and US officials said this week the United States was considering deploying Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missiles in Japan for the first time as part of efforts to boost missile defenses.
The Yomiuri Shimbun, quoting unnamed government sources, said the United States will install three to four Patriot missiles by the end of the year, bringing an additional 500 to 600 US troops to Kadena.
A Defense Agency spokeswoman reiterated Friday that the deployment was still in the planning stages.
“No details have been finalized on the issue, including where to deploy the interceptor missiles,” she said.
Okinawa, which was ruled by Washington from 1945 to 1972, hosts three-quarters of the US military facilities in Japan and has seen frequent friction over the troops.
In an effort to curb the burden on the tiny province, the United States has agreed to move some 8,000 of its 20,000 troops in Okinawa to the US territory of Guam by 2012.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government approved the withdrawal plan in May despite opposition from activists in Okinawa who had pressed for greater concessions.
Koizumi, speaking after a summit Thursday with US President George W. Bush, warned that the two countries would impose unspecified “pressures” if North Korea launches a long-range missile.
US and Asian officials have said North Korea is preparing to launch a Taepodong-2 missile, which could hit Alaska or possibly Hawaii, amid a standoff over the communist state's nuclear program.
North Korea, which declared last year it had nuclear weapons, stunned the world in 1998 by firing a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean.
