calendar>>June 10. 2011 Juch 100

US Attempt to Use Its Futenma Base for Indefinite Period

Pyongyang, June 10 (KCNA) -- The Japanese Jiji Press Ltd. on June 8 said that the U.S. Department of Defense officially announced on June 6 that "V-22 Osprey" of its Marines would be deployed in the Futenma base of U.S. forces from the latter half of next year. This is aimed to increase the mobility and operational capability of the 3rd marine expedition force in Okinawa, the press said, and went on:

The U.S. seeks to permanently keep its Marines in Okinawa in a bid to contain China and the DPRK.

Now that the transfer of the Futenma airfield is up in the air due to Japan's political situation and U.S. financial difficulties, the U.S. Marines is contemplating using the airfield till fiscal 2025 (October 2024-September 2025) and planning to modernize its facilities.

The deployment of "V-22 Osprey" is, therefore, regarded as an attempt to use the base for an indefinite period.

The deployment of these transport planes would help intensify the rapid reaction to cope with "any emergency" in the Taiwan Straits and it would also help boost the capability to deploy Marines in case of "contingency" on the Korean Peninsula if they are put on board on "Essex" using the Sasebo base of the U.S Navy as its base. Through the above-said deployment the U.S. forces seek to bolster its capability to dispatch its forces South Asia and Mideast.

Meanwhile, the plan of the U.S. Marine air force in the fiscal 2011 calls for modernizing and overhauling the Futenma airfield so that it might be used till the fiscal 2025. The repair of runways and taxiways and the construction of heliports, etc. are envisaged in the plan.