foreign minister seiji maehara intends to bolster information gathering on russia to resolve pending issues with the country, including the row over the russian-held islands claimed by japan. he also plans to visit moscow either in february or march to hold talks with russian prime minister vladimir putin and foreign minister sergei lavrov. >>> the u.s. senate has decided to cut 3/4 of its fiscal 2011 funding allocated for the expansion of military facilities in guam. this will affect the planned transfer of 8,000 u.s. marines from japan to the island. the senate approved a budget bill that provides $107 million to build base facilities. the figure is about 1/4 of the amount requested by the defense department. the senate says the budget was cut because the annual construction projects are limited in size due to the u.s. military's environmental impact assessment. it also cites uncertainty over the relocation plan for the u.s. marine corps futenma air station in okinawa. the base relocation is supposed to precede the transfer of the marines to guam under the current agreement with ja

. >>> indonesian president, susilo bambang yudhoyono, and japanese foreign minister, seiji maehara, have pledged to make asia wide efforts to ease tensions on the korean peninsula. during a meeting, yudhoyono said he believe the war must be avoided at all costs. yudhoyono referred to indonesia's presidency of the association of south asian nations in 2011. he said, indonesia will seek to deepen talks on regional peace and stability and underline the importance of involving china. maehara replied that japan will hope to cooperate closely with indonesia, which he called a key asian player. >> translator: in any case, we need to avoid war. the president and i agree regional peace and stability are essential. >>> japan's defense minister, toshimi kitazawa, has expressed reservations about a u.s. proposal to conduct joint military drills with the united states and south korea. he was referring to a comment by the chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff that said he would support japan's participation in u.s./south korean maneuvers. >> translator: japan and the u.s. are allies. we still nee

maehara on thursday. details of the meeting are not known. however, roos is believed to have explained how the u.s. government is coping with the leak of sensitive diplomatic documents. the u.s. ambassador is also believed to have sought japan's understanding about the contents of the documents to offset any possible damage to bilateral relations. no documents from the u.s. embassy in tokyo have been released so far. a special team set up by embassy -- by the embassy is on the alert for the release of any diplomatic cables. the team is also checking whether the documents posted online include classified information about japan-u.s. relations. the head of the u.n. nuclear watchdog has expressed concern over north korea's nuclear facilities and urged the country to accept inspectors as soon as possible. the director general of the international atomic energy agency, yukiya amano, made the statement at its meeting of board of governors in vienna on thursday. >> it was with great concern that i learned of rec

japan's foreign minister seiji maehara called on north korea to take steps toward denuclearization by allowing u.n. inspectors to return to its nuclear facilities. at a news conference on friday, maehara remained cautious about a chinese proposal for an emergency meeting at the six-party talks on north korea's nuclear program. however, he acknowledged the importance of the framework. >> translator: dialogue for the sake of dialogue is meaningless. the key is to make progress in enforcing the agreements reached in past rounds of talks. i want to call on north korea to act first to increase transparency of its nuclear program by opening its facilities to inspectors from the international atomic energy agency. >> north korea has officially acknowledged it is constructing a light water nuclear reactor and is operating a uranium enrichment plant. the foreign ministers of japan, the u.s. and south korea are scheduled to meet in washington on monday to address tensions on the korean peninsula. maehara said he wants to discuss with his u.s. and south korean counterparts which conditions must