Japan Protests to US Envoy After Marine Held in Okinawa Killing
Davin Ballard, 20, was taken into custody Sunday, Japanese media reported. Okinawa prefectural police suspect him of killing Anna Yagi, 39, and stealing her wallet and backpack at a hotel in Naha early Saturday. Ballard has denied the allegations.
Police said he was seen entering the hotel with Yagi, whose body was found Saturday morning.
Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi delivered the protest to US Ambassador George Glass on Sunday morning. Glass pledged full US cooperation with the investigation and said Washington would take every possible step to prevent a repeat, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.
The US Embassy in Japan said in a post on X that a US service member is in custody over the death of a Japanese national in Okinawa. It said an investigation is underway to "determine the facts of the case," and that it is cooperating with Japanese and local authorities.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the incident "extremely regrettable." She said Tokyo is demanding full cooperation with the probe, tighter discipline among US military personnel, and measures to head off similar cases.
The case revives long-running tensions over the American military presence in Okinawa, which hosts most of the US military facilities in Japan. Roughly 50,000 US troops are stationed across Japan under a bilateral security arrangement in place since the end of World War II in 1945.
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