Mandatory 'Dokdo' island classes for S. Korean children

Beginning this year, all schools will be required to provide a minimum of 10 hours of classes annually on "the importance of Dokdo", a ministry spokesman told AFP.

The South Korea-controlled islets in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) are known as Takeshima in Japan and are the subject of a bitter and decades-old territorial dispute.

Japan held an annual rally last week to promote its claim to the island chain. Hundreds of people attended, including the highest-ranking Japanese government official ever dispatched to the event.

South Korea, which had urged Tokyo to cancel Friday's rally, reacted angrily and hundreds of activists staged a protest outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul.

An association of South Korean small shopowners has urged millions of its members to boycott Japanese goods including cigarettes and beer.

The education ministry said the new Dokdo classes were aimed at countering what it sees as a growing disinformation campaign by Tokyo.

"Some schools have already offered such Dokdo-related classes, but we viewed it necessary to set specific hours," the spokesman said.

On Thursday, a state-funded education centre, known as the "Dokdo School" will be officially dedicated in the midwestern city of Cheonan, providing families and schoolchildren with historical background on the islets.

Relations between South Korea and Japan have regularly been strained by the territorial dispute and other contentious issues arising from Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula.

The territorial row deepened last year following a surprise visit by then South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak to the island chain.