TOKYO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on later Thursday that he is considering to send Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi to South Korea as early as Friday for talks on Japan's planned maritime survey around disputed islets.

    Koizumi said the visit is aimed at finding "a resolution through amicable dialogue," and he hoped that the two sides could "talk well" and resolve the issue "through diplomatic negotiations with a level-headed manner," according to Kyodo News.

    Analysts described the scheduled visit as Japan's new step of efforts to head off a confrontation with South Korea and find a breakthrough to settle the row generated by Japan's maritime survey plan. Full story

A Japan Coast Guard survey vessels leaves the Sakaiminato port, western Japan April 19, 2006. (Photo: Xinhua/Reuters)

Photo taken shows the South Korean-controlled islets, called Dokdo in South Korea and Takeshima in Japan. (Photo: Xinhua/Reuters)

South Korean maritime policemen check their equipment at a port in Pohang April 19, 2006. (Photo: Xinhua/Reuters)