LONDON: A South Korean soccer player should not attend Saturday's presentation ceremony at which he was due to receive a bronze medal after he was photographed holding aloft a political message about a long-running territorial dispute after the game, the IOC said.

The player held up a sign after his team's victory over Asian rivals Japan on Friday.

The two countries are in a dispute over islands which are known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, and which lie equidistant from the two mainlands.

The situation was further inflamed on Saturday when Japan said it will take the territorial dispute with South Korea to the International Court of Justice, after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made a surprise visit to the islands this week.

"We have opened an inquiry and have asked the NOC of the Republic of Korea for an explanation," the International Olympic Committee said in a statement on Saturday.

"We have also requested that the Republic of Korea NOC takes swift action on this issue and that the athlete not be present at this afternoon's medal presentation ceremony." AGENCIES