TOKYO- The complete removal of soil pollution at the planned Toyosu wholesale food market in Tokyo's Koto Ward is "basically a difficult thing," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said in an interview with Jiji Press on Wednesday.

"It's difficult to realize a state of zero risk," Koike said. She claimed that the soil issue should be discussed again in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly.

The interview took place the day after Koike announced her decision to go ahead with the planned relocation of the capital's landmark Tsukiji market in Chuo Ward to the Toyosu site and then redevelop the Tsukiji site as a "food theme park" with some market functions.

Prior to the announcement, Koike apologized to those working at the Tsukiji market on Saturday for the metropolitan government for not achieving its goal of making Toyosu soil "harmless," or reducing pollution levels below the state-set environmental standards.

In Tuesday's announcement, the governor did not specify when the market relocation, initially slated for November 2016, will be conducted. Koike, who won the

Tokyo gubernatorial election in July last year, announced the following month the postponement of the market relocation due to safety and other reasons.

In the interview, Koike said that the timing of the relocation depends on additional decontamination measures at the Toyosu market. "We will proceed (with the relocation) based on the understanding of people concerned," she stressed.

On the redevelopment of the Tsukiji site, Koike said that it would be "regrettable if Tsukiji becomes an ordinary town."

Meanwhile, she said there "can be various fiscal methods" to repay the metropolitan government's debts that have ballooned due to costs related to the construction of the Toyosu market.

Ahead of the Tokyo assembly election on July 2, the Liberal Democratic Party has criticized Koike's announcement of the market relocation and Tsukiji redevelopment for being aimed at winning voter support.

But Koike countered by saying that the LDP, the largest force in the Tokyo assembly, is responsible for the swollen costs for the Toyosu market.

The LDP and Tomin First no Kai (Tokyoites first group), a regional party led by Koike, will face off in the election, whose official campaign period is set to begin

on Friday. (Jiji Press)