US did not request five-fold increase for stationing troops in Japan, nation’s defense minister says
Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono meets with U.S. military leaders in Tokyo, Sept. 24, 2019.
RAYMOND DIAZ III/U.S. NAVY
By HANA KUSUMOTO | STARS AND STRIPES Published: November 18, 2019
TOKYO — Japan’s government on Sunday denied a report it had been asked to fork over five times as much as it now pays to support United States forces stationed in the country.
Kyodo News reported Saturday that Japan had rejected a request for the funding increase that was delivered by John Bolton, then national security adviser to President Donald Trump, when he visited Tokyo in July.
Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono refuted the report, according to a transcript of a Sunday press conference posted on the Defense Ministry’s website.
https://www.stripes.com/news/us-did-not-request-five-fold-increase-for-stationing-troops-in-japan-nation-s-defense-minister-says-1.607698
