S. Korean lawmakers to visit Russian-held island claimed by Japan+

SEOUL, May 19 Kyodo -
South Korean lawmakers will head Sunday for one of the four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan off Hokkaido, the northernmost Japanese main island, an opposition lawmaker said Thursday.
Kang Chang Il of South Korea's Democratic Party said members of his parliamentary group, which is campaigning for the sovereignty over a disputed island in the Sea of Japan that is claimed by Japan and South Korea, will visit Kunashiri Island around Tuesday to inspect Russia's control there.
They will be the first South Korean lawmakers to visit one of the islands known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils. The disputed islands were seized by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II.
In Moscow, new Japanese Ambassador to Russia Chikahito Harada said at his inaugural news conference that if the visit goes ahead as planned, ''That would be incompatible with Japan's basic position.''
Harada said he has no details about the trip other than what has been reported in the media.
While South Korea is building up its control over a pair of South Korean-held but Japanese-claimed islets known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, the group's visit to Kunashiri is apparently aimed at exerting some influence on the Japanese government.
As the South Koreans will acquire Russian visas to visit the island, the Japanese government is expected to raise objections to their visit.
Kang said three opposition lawmakers will visit Kunashiri and two lawmakers from the ruling party are also studying joining them to visit the island.
They plan to arrive on Kunashiri via Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, capital of Russia's Far Eastern province of Sakhalin, and return home Wednesday.
==Kyodo