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

The planned trip could come after the president visits the nearby Ulleung Island, some 90 kilometers west of the disputed islets known as Dokdo here and Takeshima in Japan, according to Lee's office.

The potential trip, which could make Lee the first South Korean leader to set foot on the sparsely inhabited islets, comes just a few days before the country celebrates the 67th anniversary of its independence from the Japanese colonial rule.

It also comes on the heels of Japan's renewed territorial claim in its latest defense white paper, a move strongly protested by South Korea, which has maintained its control of the islets for decades since the end of the 1910-45 Japanese occupation.

The lonely set of outcroppings in the East Sea has been a chronic source of diplomatic row between the two Asian neighbors, as many South Koreans see the recurring territorial disputes as a sign of an unrepentant Japan.

Friday's trip comes at a particularly sensitive time when government officials here struggle to distance themselves from a controversial military pact with Japan that was scuttled at the last minute.

The secretive Cabinet endorsement of the intelligence-sharing deal prompted an outcry among South Koreans weary of Japans' resurgent military ambitions and forced Seoul to put off the signing of the accord.

The two countries also remain at odds over compensation for Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during WWII, often euphemistically called "comfort women. "

Japan reportedly plans to officially protest Lee's planned trip.