South Korean President Lee Myung-bak plans to visit a set of disputed islets claimed by both South Korea and Japan. The unprecedented trip expected to be met by protests from Tokyo.

According to Lee's office, the planned trip could come today after the president visits the nearby Ulleung Island, some 90 kilometers west of the disputed islets known as in Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan. Lee would be the first South Korean leader to set foot on the sparsely inhabited islets.

In just a few days the country celebrates the 67th anniversary of its independence from Japanese colonial rule. It also comes on the heels of Japan's renewed territorial claim in its latest defense white paper. South Korea has maintained its control of the islets for decades since the end of the Japanese occupation.