Rising out of a gunmetal-grey sea and against a sky that is only a shade lighter, the two islands are a silhouette sometimes lost in the clouds.
Their cliffs, populated by thousands of screeching seagulls, rise sheer out of the ocean. There are no trees and little shelter from the wind and waves, which have carved impressive pinnacles and arches around the two main outcrops. Even on a benign day, the island group that South Koreans know as Tok-to, but Japan refers to as Takeshima, are a bleak, inhospitable place.
Yet Captain Kang Lee-hwang, head of the police unit guarding South Korea's most easterly outpost, said that he and the 30 men under his command believed it was their duty to protect this site. 'Definitely,' was his emphatic reply when asked if he was ready to put his life on the line to protect the islands. 'I feel a strong sense of responsibility and that we are underlining the message that Tok-to is our land and that we will protect the residents and our territory. Japan's claims to these islands are completely out of the question.'
His colleagues wear identical black uniforms, combat boots and baseball caps, with a badge depicting the outline of the islands on their breast pockets. Their numbers are presently augmented by a team of workmen, who are renovating accommodation units atop the island known as Dong-to, alongside a watch tower, communication facility and helicopter landing pad.
A steep set of steps, in places carved from the rock, leads to the top of the 99-metre peak, passing a series of five grave markers of Koreans who have died in accidents in the 54 years since Seoul began stationing guards there.
Physically a hardship posting, with the police rotating off the island every three months, 23-year-old Captain Kang is reluctant to reveal the armoury at their disposal to repel any uninvited vessel that approaches closer than the 15 nautical mile limit, but he said his colleagues were nearly all volunteers.