TOKYO: Japan will officially propose to South Korea later Tuesday that the two
sides ask the International Court of Justice to settle a long-running island
dispute, the government said.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has
also told ministers to find other ways to deal with the disagreement over
islets known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea, as Seoul has previously
said it would reject such a proposal.
"President Lee Myung-Bak and
his cabinet members' landing on Takeshima does not fit with our policy and it
is extremely regrettable," Noda told a meeting of ministers, including the
foreign and finance ministers.
"We must take a firm stance
on this. We must consider possible measures that we may take in the
future," he said.
Lee visited the Seoul-controlled
islands on August 10, winning plaudits at home but sending relations with Japan
plunging.
South Korea rejected proposals by
Japan in 1954 and 1962 to seek a ruling from the Hague-based ICJ, the main
judicial body of the United Nations.
Seoul last week dismissed renewed
talk of going to the ICJ.
Tokyo has also been considering a
review of its currency swap agreement with South Korea.
Under the current deal, the two
nations can exchange up to $70 billion worth of dollars, South Korean won and
Japanese yen, a scheme designed to prevent a financial crisis.
The swap accord was originally
designed for Japan to help South Korea withstand instability on the financial
markets, according to Japanese media.
It was not clear, however, how
important the mechanism currently is to South Korea, nor what impact any review
would have.
- AFP/al
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