The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Seoul

South Korea's prime minister made a historic visit Tuesday to a group of rocky islets controlled by Seoul but claimed also by Tokyo, as his administration sought to cement its hold over them.

Han Seung-Soo, accompanied by two other cabinet ministers, arrived at the rugged, treeless terrain midway between South Korea and Japan shortly before noon, officials at his office said. He is the highest-ranking South Korean official to visit the tiny islands, which came with Seoul feeling under mounting pressure in a territorial dispute that has flared up again with Tokyo's renewed claims.

Han met a police contingent and unveiled a monument inscribed with "Dokdo belongs to South Korean territory," his aides said.

The islands are called Dokdo by South Koreans and Takeshima in Japan.

Han told his cabinet before the trip that he wanted to "firmly make sure that Dokdo has historically belonged to South Korean territory," spokesman Song Ki-Jin said.

The previous highest-ranking official to visit was the communications minister in 2005.

Han called it "very regrettable" that the United States has re-categorised the islets, a move seen here as a diplomatic setback.

In Tokyo, Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Tomohiko Taniguchi said his government had "no official response" to Han's visit while linking it to a US federal body's decision on the islets.