TOKYO, June 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday pledged to reduce the burdens on Okinawa as a host of US forces in Japan on the 60th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa in the closing stages of World War II.

    "The concentration of US military facilities is still a big burden on the lives of residents of the prefecture," Koizumi was quoted by Kyodo News as saying in an address at a memorial service hosted by the prefectural government at the Peace Memorial Park inthe city of Itoman.

    "The government is attending talks with the US government for areduction of the burdens on Okinawa and other local communities while maintaining the deterrence of the US forces in Japan in response to changes in the international situation after the Cold War," he said.

    But Koizumi declined to specify how he would reduce the burdens,saying afterward "it is not yet at the stage we could speak of specific names of places where the US military presence in Okinawa could be relocated," according to Kyodo.

    Asked how he will deal with the peace issue in light of worsening relations between Japan and neighboring states, he only said, "We will have to take to heart how precious peace is and never forget the victims who died in the war."

    Koizumi attended the Okinawa service after a trip last Sunday to Iwojima Island as the first serving premier to visit the Pacific island, which was also the scene of fierce fighting duringthe war.

    June 23 commemorates the end of organized resistance in the three-month battle on Okinawa, which came with the defeat of the Japanese military following the March 26, 1945, landing by US forces on nearby islets.

    The battle in Okinawa, about 1,500 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, claimed more than 200,000 lives.

    Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine said in a peace declaration, "Although 60 years have passed since the war, the prefecture is still compelled to endure the undue burden of hosting bases."

    Various memorial services were also held in other parts of Okinawa, Kyodo said. Enditem