SEOUL, May 4 (UPI) -- South Korea Thursday said it will invest $36.2 million in a five-year plan to explore resources in waters around an island disputed with Japan.
The resource development plan is part of efforts to bolster its control over Dokdo, also claimed by Japan.
Dokdo, a cluster of two main islets and dozens of attached rocks and reefs that lies about halfway between the Korean peninsula and Japan's largest islet, Honshu, has long been a source of dispute between the two neighbors. Japan calls it Takeshima.
"Properly maintaining the Dokdo islets is significant in manifesting the nation's actual control of them," Vice Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Kang Mu-hyun told a press conference.
The government will conduct research on marine resources this year and start exploration for submarine mineral resources in the area in 2008, Kang said. South Korea is to repair and revamp facilities on the islets, he said.
"Dokdo is clearly our territory and a precious natural heritage," Kang said. "We need to give opportunities to both current and future generations to equally use Dokdo and share the benefits.''
The plan was unveiled after South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun last week vowed to use every possible measure to defend the islets.
