South Korea rejected Japan's formal proposal Tuesday that the two countries ask the International Court of Justice to settle a long-running island dispute, officials said.
The proposal was made to the South Korean foreign ministry through Japan's embassy in Seoul, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said in a statement.
But in Seoul, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan immediately dismissed the suggestion, saying it was "not worth consideration".
Kim also told a parliamentary session, even before the diplomatic document about the proposal was sent, that South Korea would take unspecified "stern measures" if Japan continued to raise an "unjustified" issue over the islets.
On August 10, South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak visited the Seoul-controlled islands, known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea, winning plaudits at home but sending relations with Japan plunging.
Lee's visit, with his cabinet members, "does not fit with our policy and it is extremely regrettable", Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told a meeting with his ministers earlier Tuesday.
"We must take a firm stance on this. We must consider possible measures that we may take in the future," he said as he announced the court proposal was being made to Seoul.
South Korea had rejected proposals made by Japan in 1954 and 1962 to seek a ruling from the Hague-based ICJ, the main judicial body of the United Nations.
"Dokdo is Korea's territory historically, geographically and under international law a territorial dispute does not exist," South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-Younghe said before Kim made his comment.
Cho said Seoul would receive any diplomatic missive from Tokyo but would send a similar note back firmly stating its position.
In a bid to pressure South Korea, Tokyo has been considering a review of its currency swap agreement with South Korea.
Under the current deal, the two nations can exchange up to $70 billion worth of dollars, South Korean won and Japanese yen, in a scheme designed to prevent financial crisis.
The swap accord was originally designed for Japan to help South Korea withstand instability on the financial markets, according to Japanese media.
It was not clear, however, how important the mechanism currently is to South Korea, nor what impact any review would have.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/japan-propose-court-ruling-korea-island-row-064830920.html
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