Tokyo to ask Seoul to let court rule on island row

JAPAN: Japan on Friday said it would ask 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.

It 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 normalised.

The news came as Japan also said it was reviewing a currency swap deal with South Korea and cancelling 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 Korean as Dokdo -- in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

His comments earlier this week that Emperor Akihito must apologise 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 told a news conference. AFP