South Korea’s parliament approved a sharply increased budget to be used to guard against Japan’s claims over Korea’s easternmost islets, the foreign ministry said Sunday.

The decision came as diplomatic tensions with Japan remain high following Tokyo’s reinforced actions to lay claim to Dokdo, which lies closer to South Korea in the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that the National Assembly’s committee for foreign affairs gave the green light to setting aside a budget of 6.22 billion won ($5.72 million) for 2013 to bolster a global public relations campaign about the rocky islets.

The approved budget amount is 2 billion won more than what the foreign ministry had proposed for 2013, and about three times more than the 2.32 billion won earmarked for this year.

The Dokdo budget needs final approval from the parliament’s budget committee as well as the plenary session.

In its 2013 budget proposal, the foreign ministry had originally sought 4.22 billion won to be used primarily to increase awareness of South Korea’s sovereign control of Dokdo worldwide.

After reviewing the budget request, however, a group of lawmakers at the National Assembly’s committee for foreign affairs advised the government to raise the proposed budget for Dokdo.

The lawmakers recommended that the government build better foreign-language Web sites for Dokdo and strengthen its network with foreign experts on international law, the official said on the condition of anonymity.

After being first adopted in 2003, the country set aside only 250 million won the first year and steadily increased the budget to 2.37 billion won last year.

Relations have frayed between Seoul and Tokyo following an unprecedented visit to Dokdo in August by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who cited Tokyo’s unrepentant attitude over its brutal 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula as a key reason for his trip.

Dokdo has long been a thorn in relations between the two countries. South Korea keeps a small police detachment on the islets. (Yonhap News)