South Korean president visits islets

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.

Mr Lee made the trip to the rocky, largely uninhabited outcroppings in fish-rich waters with the governor of North Gyeongsang province, according to an official in the governor’s office.