The United States' plans to reconfigure its military presence in Asia are aimed at developing forces that are mobile, agile and "more formidable in terms of the military clout," says Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage.

During an October 13 press conference in Tokyo, where he was attending an international conference to raise funds for the reconstruction of Iraq, Armitage said the United States will "always have sufficient force to live up to our security responsibilities under our mutual security treaty with Japan. That's, first and foremost, enough forces for the defense of Japan.

"We will also be able to protect our interests when we find our interests are threatened or violated," he said.

U.S.-Japan discussions about American troop presence on Japanese soil "began in the wrong spot," Armitage said. "We started talking about individual items or individual locations ... rather than starting from a philosophical discussion of how we, that is Japan and the U.S., saw our alliance, in say, in 15 years or 20 years. If we started there, then I think we could work back and the individual elements of the transformation, both our transformation and the Japanese transformation, would become clearer."

When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Bush met in New York earlier in 2004, they agreed that discussions regarding the "transformation" of the U.S. military presence in Japan would be accelerated and that this "had to be done in a way that enhanced our deterrents and that lessened the burden on the people of Japan," Armitage said.

Armitage acknowledged that, in Okinawa, the concentrated civilian development around the air base at Futenma had created potentially dangerous conditions, as was illustrated by the crash of a U.S. CH-53 helicopter August 13. Even though no lives were lost in that accident, a joint committee was set up to work on better procedures to prevent a similar occurrence, Armitage said, adding, "We want to relocate out of Futenma" and find a safer alternative site.

On North Korea, Armitage said, "[T]he most effective way to deal with North Korea is a continuation of what we've been doing. That is, make sure that we do our best, Japan and the United States, to keep China well in the game -- and I believe China is keen for continuing her efforts. Number two, to make sure that the North Koreans will not see us get impatient or nervous; we're steady in the long run; we'll prevail on this and they'll come to know it. Third of all, to make sure that we are very true to our allies in the Republic of Korea and make sure we share fully and completely with them all our thoughts on this."

Armitage acknowledged that recently there has been "some movement of Chinese forces up around the border with North Korea" but said, "[I]t looks like it may be part of an exercise." He added: "There has been an increased activity by North Korean army units to keep refugees from crossing into China, and I think [by] Chinese security personnel to keep refugees out as well." Armitage said that although the number of North Korean refugees has increased in recent years, it has not as yet "turned into a flood."

Armitage expressed U.S. appreciation for the Japanese presence in Iraq and reiterated that U.S. forces will not remain in Iraq "one day longer than is necessary.

"I think that most Iraqis, including the Iraqi leadership," he said, "don't want us to stay any longer than is necessary. They want to provide for their own security, and our job is to give them every opportunity to do it."

A transcript of the press conference is available at: http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/37049.htm