Japan will refrain from unilaterally referring its dispute with South Korea over the Takeshima islands (known in Korea as Dokdo) to the International Court of Justice this year as it initially planned, amid signs of improved relations with Seoul, according to sources familiar with the matter.

A decision on whether to file a suit unilaterally at the UN court next year over the Shimane Prefecture islets will be made by a new government to be formed after the House of Representatives election on December 16, the sources also said.

"We haven't retracted our policy [to refer the case to the ICJ]," a senior Foreign Ministry official said. "But we're holding off for now, unless South Korea takes any new actions related to Takeshima."

Tokyo asked Seoul to jointly refer the ongoing row to the ICJ in The Hague after South Korean President Lee Myung Bak visited the islands August 10. As Seoul rejected the proposal, the Japanese government has been preparing to file a suit on its own by the end of this year.

However, if parties concerned do not jointly refer their dispute to the ICJ, an agreement by the defendant to participate is necessary to start the trial. So even if Japan does file a suit it is unlikely to get under way, as Seoul appears not to want the matter settled under international law.

Japan had nearly completed preparations for the court arbitration by early November. However, bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea began to thaw in late November, with economic talks held between vice foreign ministers and dialogue between financial ministers.

South Korea's presidential election set for December 19 was also taken into consideration. Tokyo revised its initial schedule for referring the dispute to the ICJ because it apparently wanted to see how the new South Korean government would handle the matter.

Some Japanese government officials believe improving bilateral relations is a top priority and are wary of filing a suit at the ICJ without South Korea's consent. However, other officials insist Japan would be sending the wrong message if it did not file a suit.

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Japan-Korea islands dispute case to stay out of int'l court