Japanese Defense Agency has dispatched a senior agency official to Washington for talks with high-ranking US government officials on the envisioned realignmentof US forces deployed in Japan.

The dispatch of Chisato Yamauchi, deputy director general of the agency's Defense Policy Bureau, marks the start of full-fledged working-level talks between the two countries over the realignment issue, Kyodo News reported Tuesday.

The talks come in response to an agreement last month between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and US President George W. Bush in New York to work to maintain the US power of deterrencewhile reducing Japan's burden in hosting US forces in the course of realigning US troops in Japan.

Earlier this month, Koizumi said he wanted to pursue the possibility of relocating some of the US bases in Okinawa overseasas well as elsewhere in Japan as part of Washington's military realignment and with a view to reducing the burden of Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of the US military presence in Japan.

According to Kyodo, Yamauchi is expected to hold the working-level talks in line with Koizumi's policy. The talks are expected to last until Thursday.

If negotiations proceed smoothly, Japan plans to hold a US-Japan Security Consultative Committee meeting within a year. It will be attended by the Japanese foreign minister, Defense Agency director general, and US state and defense secretaries.

Source: Xinhua