That would be a fresh blow to the Lee Myung-bak administration following massive street protests over the last two months, scuppering a key foreign policy initiative -- that of strengthening the traditional Seoul-Washington-Tokyo alliance.

Japan will announce the teaching guidelines next Monday, after the Japanese press in May revealed that the issue was on the agenda. But it seems the Japanese government has already made a rough decision.

Before it makes an official announcement, it is likely that Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will brief President Lee on the Japanese government's position during the G8 meeting this week, a South Korean official said.

According to diplomatic sources and intelligence authorities, the Japanese Education Ministry, which is in charge of this issue, remains firm on this, saying the policy to describe Dokdo as Japanese territory in textbooks was formulated during the Koizumi administration. But there still is the possibility that Japanese political leaders including Fukuda may take diplomatic relations with Seoul into consideration and make a political decision to slam on the brakes.

The Korean government official said Japan is apparently also considering a compromise of using a vague expression, instead of calling the islets in the East Sea by their Japanese name “Takeshima.”

Korea is making all-out efforts to prevent Japan from including its claim to Dokdo in the textbooks by making contact with former and incumbent Japanese lawmakers through Foreign Ministry officials and political leaders who are maintaining personal connections with Japanese officials. In an interview with the Japanese press on Monday, President Lee said, "I believe Japanese political leaders will not dare include Dokdo in the document" - a remark seen as an attempt to put pressure on Japanese politicians.

But it will be difficult for the Korean government to maintain quiet diplomacy unless Japan completely gives up on including Dokdo in textbooks. No compromise on the issue will be satisfactory.

Another problem is that Korea already showed its trump cards in May, when the issue was brought up first. Based on press reports at that time, President Lee instructed the government agencies to take a tough line on this issue, and Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan called in the Japanese ambassador in Seoul to warn him against it.

It remains to be seen what kind of forward-looking diplomatic solution President Lee will find, striking a balance between his relations with the Korean people and the Japanese government.

(englishnews@chosun.com )