Tokyo to ask Seoul to let court rule on island row

Japan on Friday said it wanted South Korea to go to the International Court of Justice for a ruling on a disputed island chain, as Tokyo looks to get some diplomatic leverage in a damaging row.

The proposal - instantly dismissed by South Korea - would be the first time Tokyo has asked Seoul to go to the ICJ for five decades, and the first since ties with its one-time colony were normalized.

The news came as Japan also said it was reviewing a currency swap deal with South Korea and canceling a high-level visit.

Ties went into virtual freefall when South Korean President Lee Myung-bak last week visited the Seoul-controlled islands - known in Japan as Takeshima and in South Korea as Dokdo - in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

His comments earlier this week that Emperor Akihito must apologize for Japan's warmongering past if he wanted to visit South Korea also caused anger.

"Aiming to resolve the issue calmly, fairly and peacefully, we will propose to take this issue to the International Court of Justice," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said at a news conference.

"If South Korea believes its claim to Takeshima is justifiable, we strongly hope it would accept our government's proposals," he said.

Seoul dismissed the move out of hand, telling Japan it would take "stern measures against any provocations".

"We make it clear that the Japanese proposal would not be worth considering as there is no territorial dispute over Dokdo," said Cho Tai-young, spokesman for South Korea's foreign ministry.

"It is clearly Korean territory historically, geographically and under international law."

Seoul officials say Tokyo must secure South Korean consent to have the issue heard at the Hague-based ICJ, the main judicial body of the United Nations.

"Japan will take all responsibility for future incidents with regard to the issue of Dokdo," Cho said without elaborating.

South Korea rejected proposals by Japan in 1954 and 1962 to let the court rule on the subject.

Japan and South Korea normalized ties in 1965, two decades after Tokyo's surrender at the end of World War II, an event that also marked the end of Japan's 35-year colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

As part of Japan's protest against Lee's visit to the islands, Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi announced he was canceling a planned trip to South Korea and suggested reviewing a bilateral currency swap deal.

"We must not overlook (Lee's) remarks that utterly lack due respect and rub the Japanese public sentiment the wrong way," he told a news conference.

"It is difficult to completely separate" economic issues from the political dispute, Azumi said. "I felt the timing of my visit to South Korea is not appropriate."

Under the current currency swap deal, the two nations can exchange up to $70 billion worth of currencies, South Korean won and Japanese yen - a scheme designed to prevent financial crisis.

Azumi said "every option" needed to be considered in deciding whether to extend the level of the swap agreement.

Agence France-Presse