Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on later Thursday that he is considering to send Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi to South Korea as early as Friday for talks on Japan's planned maritime survey around disputed islets.

Koizumi said the visit is aimed at finding "a resolution through amicable dialogue," and he hoped that the two sides could "talk well" and resolve the issue "through diplomatic negotiations with a level-headed manner," according to Kyodo News.

Analysts described the scheduled visit as Japan's new step of efforts to head off a confrontation with South Korea and find a breakthrough to settle the row generated by Japan's maritime survey plan.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said earlier in the day in a press conference that the two sides are "making unofficial contacts with the aim of reaching a peaceful settlement," and Japan "would like to wait and see the outcome."

According to news reaching in Tokyo, Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Shotaro Oshima was summoned earlier Thursday by South Korea's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon, who reiterated the demand that Japan immediately abandon its survey plan, and reaffirmed South Korea's resolution to take "decisive measure" and "stern responses" when necessary, referring to Japanese survey vessel's possible intrusion into the South Korean exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which is also claimed by Japan.

Kyodo said South Korean coast guard had deployed more than 18 ships, including patrol vessels, around the disputed islets, known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, to block Japanese survey ships.

Two Japan Coast Guard maritime survey vessels left port in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast on Wednesday afternoon, but are still on standby as of now awaiting orders to carry out their assignment of creating a hydrographic map.

Japan had initially planned to launch the survey as early as Thursday and conclude it on April 26, but is apparently putting it off in response to the South Korean protests.

The area to be surveyed lies within Japan's EEZ, but also includes an area claimed by South Korea as its territory, as the two countries have not clearly set their EEZ border, Kyodo said.

The Japanese government says the intended survey comes in response to South Korea's move to propose naming the seafloor topography of the area in question during an upcoming international conference in June.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2006)