S. Korea may invoke immigration laws to ban Japan lawmakers' visit: official

SEOUL, July 26 Kyodo - South Korea may invoke immigration laws to ban a planned visit to the country by a group of Japanese politicians who have stirred up a public uproar among South Koreans over Japan's claims to a pair of South Korean-controlled isles, a close aide to President Lee Myung Bak said Tuesday.
Four lawmakers of Japan's opposition Liberal Democratic Party said last week they plan to make a trip to Ulleungdo island during a visit to South Korea in early August.
Ulleungdo is South Korea's administrative and military defense base for the disputed islets, known as Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan, in the Sea of Japan.
Special Affairs Minister Lee Jae Oh, in a message posted on the Twitter online social network, said the South Korean government ''is determined'' to stop the visit, sending the Japanese politicians back to Japan if they defy South Korea's wishes and fly to South Korea.
The Japanese lawmakers' plan to visit Ulleungdo, seen in Seoul as aimed at supporting Japan's claim to the disputed islets, has triggered waves of anti-Japanese protests in South Korea.
The South Korean justice minister can invoke immigration laws to ban the visit if the government decides it would ''endanger public security,'' Lee said.
According to Yonhap News Agency, President Lee met with Lee Jae Oh and other senior government officials on Tuesday over the Japanese lawmakers' planned trip to Ulleungdo.
On the same day, the South Korean government reiterated its demand that the Japanese lawmakers call off their trip.
''It would not help bilateral relations if the Japanese lawmakers' visit to Ulleungdo is for such purpose (of laying claims over the islets),'' South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Cho Byung Jae said.
''We are closely monitoring the situation with all possibilities left open,'' Cho added.