Okinawa Governor Genta Koja has demanded a fundamental review of the 1960 Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) following the indictment of an American Marine for the murder of a Japanese woman.
TOKYO: The governor of Okinawa said Monday he would request a review of a pact seen as giving the US military preferential treatment in Japan, following a murder allegedly committed by an American Marine.
Prosecutors indicted the Marine last month on suspicion of murdering a 39-year-old Japanese woman at an Okinawa hotel, in a case that triggered outrage and reignited controversy over the US military presence on the southern island.
The United States has around 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, mostly on Okinawa, and crimes committed by its personnel have been a thorn in relations between the close security allies.
