Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi agreed Tuesday to possibly make minor changes to a plan to relocate a U.S. air station within Okinawa, Kyodo News reported.

Koizumi expressed his conciliatory viewpoint in response to local demands during a meeting with Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga, according to the report.

Nukaga, who said Koizumi has left the issue solely to the agency, plans to discuss it on Tuesday evening with officials of Nago, where the base will be relocated, Kyodo said.

The realignment of U.S. forces in Japan highlights moving about 8,000 U.S. Marines within and out of Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. bases in Japan. The U.S. forces plan to move most of them to Guam and has asked Japan to pay for 75 percent of the total cost of 10 billion U.S. dollars.

The Japanese government aims to finalize the agreement with the United States by the end of this month despite fierce opposition from local residents, and has repeatedly said it had no intention of revising the plan.

Source: Xinhua