Grand National Party leader Hong Joon-pyo on Sunday asked the government to station Marines on Dokdo to reinforce Korea's sovereignty over the islets claimed by Japan.
Korean politicians have raised a storm of protest over Tokyo's renewed claims to the East Sea islets. Earlier this month, three Japanese lawmakers were denied entry at a Seoul airport over their apparent attempt to boost Tokyo's territorial claims, while Korea's foreign ministry summoned a Japanese diplomat here to protest claims to Dokdo in an annual Japanese defense paper.
"Instead of the Coast Guard currently stationed on Dokdo, (I ask) the government to station the Marine Corps," Hong said during a meeting with reporters at his party headquarters in Seoul.
Korea has kept a Coast Guard unit on Dokdo since 1954 as a symbol of its ownership.
"I believe we have reached a point where we must go beyond quiet diplomacy and passive action, and actively show our determination to defend Dokdo," he said.
Until now, the Korean government has reacted calmly to Japan's ongoing claims to the set of rocky outcroppings, rejecting any attempt by Tokyo to turn them into disputed territory. Koreans say they reclaimed all of their land, including Dokdo, at the end of Tokyo's 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula.
"(I have) already completed relevant discussions with the government, and the defense minister actively welcomed (the idea),"
Hong said, adding that Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan also expressed no opposition.
The party chief suggested that a company of Marines be stationed on the adjacent island of Ulleung, from where a smaller Marine platoon could be dispatched to Dokdo on rotation.
Meanwhile, Hong's planned trip to Dokdo on Sunday was canceled, apparently due to bad weather. He had planned to tour the islets to show solidarity with the Coast Guard officers stationed there and to issue a statement calling for stronger diplomatic actions against Japan's moves.
A Korean parliamentary committee planned to hold a meeting on Dokdo on Friday, the first meeting of its kind, but it was also canceled, apparently due to bad weather amid protests from the Japanese government.
In another move to defend Dokdo, Korea's military conducted joint maneuvers near the islets twice this year, a government source said on the condition of anonymity. The maneuvers, the latest of which took place on Aug. 4-6, have been held regularly by the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard since the mid-1990s, the source said. (Yonhap News)