Naha, Okinawa Pref., Oct. 5 (Jiji Press)–Okinawa Governor Genta Koja said Monday he will travel to Tokyo this week to directly lodge a protest to the Japanese government following the arrest of a U.S. Marine in Okinawa on suspicion of murder and robbery. During the planned visit to the capital, Koja, who took office at the end of last month, is expected to meet with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi. “A heinous crime occurred (in Okinawa), and a U.S. serviceman was arrested,” Koja told reporters at the prefectural government office in Naha, the capital of the southernmost Japan prefecture. “The situation cannot be overlooked.” Okinawa police arrested Devin Jacob Ballard, who is stationed at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air base in the Okinawa city of Ginowan, on Sunday for allegedly killing a 39-year-old woman in a room of a hotel in Naha and stealing her belongings on Saturday. Koja said in Naha on Sunday that the crime is “absolutely inexcusable” and that he is “extremely outraged.” The incident is “extremely regrettable,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a press conference in Tokyo on Monday, showing the Japanese government’s intention to continue urging U.S. forces in Japan to make thorough efforts to improve discipline and prevent a recurrence. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
