South Koreans stand behind President Lee Myung-bak's decision to visit disputed islands. Sophia Soo reports. <\/p>\n
A SURPRISE presidential visit to some disputed islands between Japan and Korea has fired tensions in the region, even as China and the Philippines manoeuvre further south. <\/p>\n
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak has paid a surprise visit to the islands at the centre of a decades-long territorial dispute with Japan, which has recalled its ambassador from Seoul in protest. <\/p>\n
Lee was making the first visit by a South Korean president to the rocky volcanic outcrops in the Sea of Japan, roughly midway between South Korea and its former colonial ruler, Japan. <\/p>\n
This is just one of many island disputes. Last week, the United States warned China over its aggressive campaign to build outposts on disputed islands and reefs in the South China Sea. <\/p>\n
Disregarding Tokyo's warnings that the move would strain already prickly relations, Lee toured the main island and shook hands with coastguards as a South Korean flag fluttered in the breeze. <\/p>\n
\"Dokdo is indeed our territory and a place worth staking our lives to defend. Let's make sure to safeguard it with pride,\" pool reports quoted him as saying. <\/p>\n
A police guard with a rifle is seen before a South Korean landing ship on the remote islands disputed with Japan. Picture: DONG-A ILBO <\/p>\n
TV footage showed him posing for a photo in front of a rock painted with the slogan \"ROK (South Korean) territory\". <\/p>\n
The South has stationed a small coastguard detachment since 1954 on the islands known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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