Japan's Kyodo News Agency says the United States plans to relocate around 1,000 Marines in Okinawa to a new training base that is to be established in northern South Korea. The news agency says the move is aimed at filling the vacuum that may arise after the planned withdrawal of one-third of the 37,000 U.S. forces on the Korean Peninsula. Quoting U.S. and Japanese sources, the news agency said Monday that the U.S. will reduce the number of troops of its 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa by sending around 1,190 of them to the Philippines and other parts of Asia for training and other purposes until 2008. According to the sources, the United States also plans to relocate 2,600 Marines in Okinawa to other parts of Japan starting in 2008. The sources said the two-step approach to effectively reduce the approximately 17,700 Marines in Okinawa by 4,790, or 27 percent, is part of U.S. efforts to address Japanese requests to lighten the area's burden of hosting the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan. The reports said, however, the expected effectiveness of the first phase of relocation is uncertain as the U.S. military has reportedly already deployed thousands of Marines from Okinawa to Iraq and other places.