SEOUL/TOKYO (Yonhap) -- Korea will reject an expected formal proposal by Japan to take the issue of Dokdo to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), reaffirming its stance that there should not exist any territorial disputes over the islets because they are clearly Korean territory, officials said Tuesday.

A verbal proposal was immediately dismissed by Korea last Friday, but Japan ratcheted up its move as Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said that Tokyo will deliver a "note verbale," a diplomatic document unsigned but more formal than a verbal one, to South Korea later in the day.

In a sign that other bilateral ties would be affected, Fujimura told reporters that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda ordered his cabinet to review other measures against South Korea over Dokdo.

Korea stood firm in its stance. "Our position is very clear that there should not exist any territorial disputes over Dokdo because it is a Korean territory historically, geographically and under international laws," a senior official at Seoul's foreign ministry said.

"We have neither any reason to go to the ICJ nor will go there," the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Relations have soured quickly after President Lee Myung-bak made an unprecedented visit to Dokdo on Aug. 10. Lee cited what he calls Japan's unrepentant attitude over its brutal colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula as a key reason for the visit.

The Japanese proposal is not feasible because it must secure South Korea's consent to have the issue heard at the ICJ. Two previous proposals by Japan in 1954 and 1962 were also instantly rejected.

The Japanese proposal is not feasible because it must secure South Korea's consent to have the issue heard at the ICJ. Two previous proposals by Japan in 1954 and 1962 were also instantly rejected.

Seoul diplomats said they will make a cool-headed response to the reinforced Japanese move to lay claim to Dokdo as it does not want to be mired into a ploy by Tokyo to make Dokdo a disputed territory.

"Dokdo is our territory, so it is not a subject to a judicial settlement," another ministry official said.

Dokdo, which lies closer to South Korea in the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, has long been a thorn in bilateral relations. South Korea keeps a small police detachment on the islets, effectively controlling them.

Japan has long laid claims to Dokdo in school textbooks, government reports and other ways, stoking enmity in South Korea against the former colonial ruler.

Koreans see those claims as amounting to denying Korea's rights because the country regained independence from the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule and reclaimed sovereignty over its territory, which includes Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula.