South Korea beefs up patrols near disputed isles

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's coastguard said on Tuesdayit had stepped up patrols near islands at the centre of aterritorial dispute with Japan, a day after Seoul recalled itsambassador in anger at new Japanese claims to the rockyoutcrops.

The fight over the desolate islands, known as Dokdo inKorean and Takeshima in Japanese, has been a persistentirritant in relations between the neighbours, rekindlingmemories in South Korea of Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule overthe peninsula.

"We're beefing up security measures in relation to Japan'sdecision to describe Dokdo as its territory in its textbooks,"a coastguard official said.

On Monday, Tokyo said it had told Seoul it would refer in amiddle school teaching guide to the islands as Japaneseterritory, triggering angry rallies outside Japan's embassy inSeoul and official protests from South Korea's government.

School textbooks, seen as an expression of government viewsin many Asian countries, sometimes lead to international spats.In 2005, thousands of Chinese took to the streets to protestwhat they said was Japan's whitewashing of its World War Twohistory in schoolbooks.

The disputed islands are controlled by South Korea, whichkeeps a police presence there, and lie roughly equidistant fromthe mainland of both countries.

South Korea's coastguard said in a separate statement onTuesday that it had strengthened its early warning system, "asa preventive measure against any possible attempt by Japaneseright-wing elements sailing to Dokdo."

The waters surrounding the islands are rich in marine lifeand popular with squid fishermen while the seabed in the areamay have deposits of a natural gas hydrate that could be worthbillions of dollars.

Japanese government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura on Tuesdaycalled for a calm response to overcome differences.

"Right now Japan and South Korea have entered a new age,and efforts should be made not to interrupt this," he said.

Before returning to Seoul, South Korea's ambassador KwonChul-hyun, visited Japan's foreign ministry on Tuesday to lodgea protest, his embassy said in a statement.

Kwon said South Koreans may have a hard time welcomingJapanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda for a trip planned in afew months to the country, adding Japan had more to lose thangain due to the island fight, the statement said.

The dispute is one of a number of long-running territorialrows involving Japan and its neighbours.

Last month, a row over ownership of another group of tinyislands called the Senkaku isles in Japan, the Diaoyu in Chinaand the Tiaoyutai in Taiwan, flared up when a Japanesecoastguard vessel collided with a Taiwan fishing boat, sinkingit and injuring one person.

NO BENEFIT TO LEE

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who took office inFebruary, pledged to better ties with major trading partnerJapan after his predecessor Roh Moo-hyun tried to score pointsat home by fanning the flames of lingering anti-Japansentiment.

Analysts said this recent development may add to prevailingunhappiness about the Lee regime.

The public is likely to see his call to get closer to Tokyoas just one more policy blunder for his new government, whichhas seen its support rate fall after bungling a U.S. beef dealand personnel appointments, Kang said.

"People tend to regard the Dokdo case as his diplomaticmistake or failure. Even though people are united againstJapan, it is not likely to boost his popularity," said KangWon-taek, a political science professor at Soongsil Universityin Seoul.

(With additional reporting by Kim Junghyun in Seoul andElaine Lies in Tokyo)

(Editing by Valerie Lee)