Japan today called on South Korea to end its "illegal occupation" of tiny islets in the strongest language so far in a dispute that has sent the two countries' relations to the lowest levels in years.

South Korean president Lee Myung-bak made a surprise visit today to islets at the centre of a long-running territorial dispute with Japan, ignoring warnings from Tokyo that it would worsen the neighbours’ already strained relations.

Two South Korean demonstrators cut off their fingers outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul today to protest Tokyo’s territorial claim to a set of islets controlled by South Korea.