The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Seoul

South Korea summoned Japan's ambassador Monday in a row over who owns a disputed set of islands that could damage efforts to rebuild a relationship untainted by bitter wartime memories.

Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan delivered a message of warning and protest via ambassador Toshinori Shigeie after reports that Tokyo would describe the islets as "Japanese territory" in a revised school curriculum handbook.

The two tiny islands-known by the Japanese as Takeshima and as Dokdo by Koreans-are rugged, treeless and cover a total area of just 18.7 hectares (46 acres). Nevertheless, they have long been an irritant in ties between South Korea and former colonial master Japan, with both sides claiming sovereignty.