UNTIL a few days ago, Junko Sato’s Japan-South Korea love tour seemed like a charming idea. A group of single Japanese ladies, subscribers to Ms Sato’s marriage introductions agency, were to fly from Tokyo to Seoul in search of prospective husbands. There, carefully vetted young Korean swains would woo them.

There would be parties, sightseeing and flirtation in the spring sunshine. After three days, the idea went, love would blossom between the young singles — and their two nations, so long bedevilled by quarrelling and dissension, would have come that little bit closer.

However, this week Ms Sato’s scheme came to grief on the rocky realities of East Asian politics. Like dozens of other enterprises planned for this year, the love tour has been cancelled because of a bitter and escalating row over a group of rocky islets claimed by South Korea and Japan.

Yesterday, President Roh issued a stern warning: “The South Korean Government will now have no choice but to deal sternly with Japan’s attempt to justify its history of aggression and colonialism and revive regional hegemony.” He said in a three-page statement on his official website: “The issue concerns the fate of both the Korean Peninsula and all of Northeast Asia.”

Since the Samurai invasions of the late 16th century and throughout Japan’s colonisation from 1910 to 1945, Korean resentment of Japan has run deep — but in the past few years there have been signs of a new warmth and maturity in the troubled relationship. The two countries hosted the highly successful 2002 football World Cup. Young Koreans devour Japanese pop culture. And Japanese women swoon over Bae Yong Joon, the Korean actor. Amid the euphoria, 2005 was officially designated Japan-Korea Friendship Year.

Then, last month, the Japanese Ambassador to Seoul was asked by a journalist about the islets, known in Korea as Tokto and in Japan as Takeshima. He restated his Government’s position. That led to waves of outrage in the Korean media.

On the other side, a local assembly in Shimane prefecture instituted a “Takeshima Day” this month to celebrate Japan’s “ownership” of the islets. It touched off ferocious demonstrations in Seoul, during which a mother and son cut off a finger each and a man set fire to himself.

Football matches between schools have been called off because the safety of visiting Japanese players “could not be guaranteed”. Japan-Korea Friendship Year lies in tatters.

The South Korean agency that is a partner of Ms Sato’s Sunmark Life Creation marriage agency told her on March 1 that her love tour could go ahead, as long as it was not publicised. But the mood has gone sour and Sunmark cancelled the trip. Ms Sato said: “If our members go worrying that something might happen, they won’t enjoy themselves.”

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