Suga said the government plans to hold in-depth talks with Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga to seek understanding for the relocation plan. The suspension of work on the relocation of the Futenma base covers an offshore boring survey.
The construction of a new facility in the Henoko district, which was initially set to start this summer, will be delayed to September or later.
"We'd like to listen to the opinion of Okinawa Prefecture," Suga said. He added that the government decided it was necessary to discuss the matter calmly with the Okinawa prefectural government.
Suga plans to visit Okinawa Prefecture soon to meet with Onaga. The government is expected to explain to the prefecture about the government's plan to remove any danger posed by the Futenma base and seek cooperation to reduce the prefecture's burden of hosting U.S. bases.
Onaga, who became Okinawa governor in December, strongly opposes the relocation of the Futenma base to Henoko. He has implied that he would nullify his predecessor's approval of land reclamation work off Nago.
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In July, a third-party committee, which is a private advisory panel to Onaga, said in a report that there were "legal defects" in the central government's application for land reclamation work. This was widely seen as the precursor for Onaga to nullify the former governor's approval of land reclamation work.
However, Onaga said at a press conference on Tuesday he would not nullify the approval while the relocation work is suspended.
The government, therefore, apparently decided to suspend the relocation work to prevent the central and Okinawa prefectural governments from becoming even more at odds over the issue.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Suga also said U.S. forces will likely allow the Okinawa prefectural government to conduct a survey on coral reefs in an off-limits area at the relocation site.
The Japanese and U.S. governments have agreed on the return of land used by the Futenma base in fiscal 2022 or later. The suspension of the relocation work is expected to delay the construction of the new facility to autumn or later, but will unlikely have a serious impact on the overall construction schedule.
