Major news in Japan on Jun 19: Okinawa governor opposes Osprey deployment

Top news in <Kyodo News>: Okinawa governor opposes Osprey deployment

Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Tuesday urged the Japanese government to stop the planned deployment of MV-22 Osprey aircraft at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station following recent crashes abroad.

Nakaima told Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto that Okinawa cannot allow the United States to deploy the tilt-rotor aircraft at the base in the city of Ginowan as scheduled before the causes of the accidents are determined.

The local governments and residents in Okinawa Prefecture in southwestern Japan are concerned about the presence of the Osprey aircraft at the base, located in a crowded residential district in Ginowan, given the plane’s history of fatal crashes during test flights.

news@theasian.asia