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Obama postpones trip to Japan and Asia by one day for Fort Hood memorial
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President Barack Obama has postponed his trip to Japan and Asia by one day so that he can attend Tuesday morning’s memorial for the victims of the Fort Hood shooting. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and other members of the Japanese government acknowledged the reason for the late change of plans.
President Obama was originally schedule to arrive in Japan on Thursdays, November 12th (JST) and leave late the following day for other Asian countries after the day’s worth of scheduled meetings. Under the new plan Obama will instead arrive early on the 13th and leave early on the 14th for the APEC meeting in Singapore. A Japanese government official told reporters after news of the request had come out, “Plans for the 12th were basically just dinner in the evening, and so rescheduling should be possible.”
Prime Minister Hatoyama confirmed the plan change at a Japanese press conference later on the 7th by stating, “I think it’s an extremely difficult situation because the shooting happened. We absolutely must understand that.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan said, “Since this is such a big incident for the American government, it can’t be helped. It will not affect Japan and America’s relationship.”
Obama will meet with the new Japanese government for the first time in Japan on the 13th. While both countries look to preserve their strong relationship, there is increasing pressure to discuss hotbed issues such as the U.S.’s plans to relocate its military base on the island of Okinawa and Japan’s level of involvement in Afghanistan.
Obama is also scheduled to be in China from the 15th to the 18th, and then Korea until the 19th.
Read more news from Japan by the Japan Headlines Examiner
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