Japan summoned the US ambassador after a Marine was arrested in a woman’s killing on Okinawa. The case has sparked nationwide outrage.
Japan lodged a formal protest with the United States and summoned its ambassador Sunday after a U.S. Marine was arrested on suspicion of robbing and killing a woman at a hotel on Okinawa, an incident Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called “extremely brutal and vicious.” Okinawa prefectural police arrested Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, on suspicion of killing 39-year-old Anna Yagi and stealing her wallet and backpack early Saturday; Kyodo News reported the woman’s body was found strangled in her hotel room in Naha.
“The occurrence of such a heinous crime is extremely regrettable,” Takaichi wrote on social media, saying her government had lodged a strong protest with the U.S. and demanded “maximum cooperation” with the investigation along with stricter discipline among American service members. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi summoned U.S. Ambassador George Glass, conveying what the ministry described as outrage. Glass said the U.S. “confirmed our policy of providing full cooperation with the investigation” and extended condolences to the victim’s family; Ballard has denied the charges. Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said incidents involving U.S. military personnel “cause significant anxiety to the local community and must never occur,” and newly elected Okinawa Governor Genta Koja called the case “absolutely unforgivable.”
The arrest has reopened long-standing tension over the heavy American military presence on Okinawa, where roughly 27,000 of Japan’s 54,000 U.S. military personnel, including about 18,000 Marines, are based. Since Okinawa’s 1972 handover from U.S. administrative control back to Japan, about 6,000 U.S. military personnel have been arrested on the island, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun. Past violent crimes by American servicemembers have previously triggered mass protests, including the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. servicemen and a 2016 rape and murder case. The incident adds further strain to U.S.-Japan relations following a recent currency dispute.
This report is based on information from Al Jazeera, NPR, Newser (citing AP) and Time News.