The Japanese government will reportedly propose to South Korea that both countries jointly take the Dokdo issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Japan’s Kyodo News said Friday that the decision came during a meeting of ministry department directors that handle territorial disputes. The report said that Tokyo is likely to announce the proposal as early as Friday.

Japan is expected to strongly urge South Korea to jointly bring the Dokdo case to the ICJ given that related procedures are simpler that way, and related parties can state their positions more swiftly.

The report said Japan plans to soon send a document containing the proposal to South Korea and if South Korea turns down the proposal, Tokyo will urge for bilateral negotiations to handle the Dokdo issue based on the 1965 South Korea-Japan Treaty on Basic Relations.

The South Korean government is sticking to a position that it will not respond to such action by Japan, explaining Dokdo is clearly under the actual governance of South Korea, and therefore, filing a lawsuit with the ICJ is not valid by definition.

Japan made a similar proposal to South Korea in 1954 and 1962 but South Korea turned down the offer.