SKorea recalls ambassador to Japan
Updated
South Korea has recalled its ambassador to Japan as tensions flare between the two nations over a group of islands that they have long-disputed.
Seoul has sent an extra patrol ship to the area after Tokyo reaffirmed its claim to the islands, controlled by Seoul in the Sea of Japan.
The new row comes less than three months after leaders of the two countries agreed to focus on the future rather than on Japan's brutal 20th century colonisation of Korea.
The Seoul foreign ministry says Ambassador Kwon Chul-Hyun will return home temporarily after lodging a strong protest with Japan's foreign ministry.
The foreign minister, Yu Myung-Hwan, summoned Tokyo's envoy Toshinori Shigeie to make a similar protest.
Maritime police, who station a detachment on the islands known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, say surveillance air patrols will be strengthened, while another patrol ship has been deployed.
Call for understanding
Japan's prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, has defended his country's claim, calling for Seoul's understanding over the dispute.
The latest tensions have been sparked by words that appear in official guidelines for Japanese junior high schools.
These say students should have a "deeper understanding" of Japan's claim to the islands but also recognise differences over their ownership.
In Tokyo, government spokesman, Nobutaka Machimura, says Japan had been cautious about phrasing the guidelines - which avoid explicitly describing the islands as Japanese territory - in a bid to avoid escalating frictions.
It is, however, the first time that Japan has included the claim in such guidelines.
The islands cover a total area of 18.7 hectares.
Japan claimed them in 1905 after winning a war with Russia in the region.
