TOKYO (Kyodo) — The Japanese and U.S. defense chiefs agreed Friday to move ahead with a bilateral accord to relocate a key U.S. base within Okinawa Prefecture.

Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa said to reporters that he told his U.S. counterpart Leon Panetta during their first talks over the phone, “Let us try hard to make tangible progress (on the relocation) in line with the bilateral agreement.”

Panetta underscored the importance of the issue on Okinawa to further promote the Japan-U.S. alliance and said that while the U.S. government will do its best to make headway, it wants Japan to do its part, Ichikawa said.

Panetta, who assumed his post as defense secretary in July, was also quoted by a Japanese official as telling Ichikawa that he wants to visit Japan in the near future.

Their predecessors and the nations’ foreign chiefs held top security talks in June in Washington and reaffirmed their agreement to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station within Okinawa. Under the plan, the Futenma base will be moved from Ginowan to the less populated coastal Henoko district of Nago.

The relocation issue remains stalled in the wake of strong opposition by most of the residents in Okinawa, which has long hosted the bulk of the U.S. forces in Japan. Locals want Futenma moved out of the prefecture.

The central government has been trying to seek local understanding on the relocation, with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda recently saying in a parliament session that the current plan is believed to significantly reduce Okinawa’s burden of hosting U.S. bases.

Under Noda’s government launched earlier this month, ministers involved in matters related to Okinawa held their first meeting to discuss measures to develop Okinawa and tackle pending issues such as the relocation.

Ichikawa said the ministers agreed to move forward in resolving such issues and pursuing the island prefecture’s development.

Kyodo