S.Korea beefs up patrols near disputed islands

South Korea's coastguard said yesterday it had stepped up patrols near islands at the center of a territorial dispute with Japan, a day after Seoul recalled its ambassador in anger at new Japanese claims to the rocky outcrops.

The fight over the desolate islands, known as Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese, has been a persistent irritant in relations between the neighbors, rekindling memories in South Korea of Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over the peninsula.

"We're beefing up security measures in relation to Japan's decision to describe Dokdo as its territory in its textbooks," a coastguard official said.