Presidential spokesman Kim Eun Hye said that Mr Lee told visiting pro-South Korea residents from Japan on Monday that 'there should be no concession because Dokdo is the issue of territory.'

Seoul effectively controls the islets - called Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese - but Tokyo also claims ownership. Earlier this year, the dispute heated up when Japan said it would recommend in a government teaching manual that students learn about Tokyo's claims to the islets, which are mostly uninhabited but are rich in marine resources.

Japan colonised Korea from 1910-1945. -- AP