Japan welcomes WTO ruling on South Korea over Fukushima seafood import ban

Japan on Friday welcomed a World Trade Organisation ruling that called for South Korea to lift an import ban on Japanese seafood, imposed after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

However, the issue is expected to continue after South Korea said it would appeal the WTO’s decision and had no plans to repeal the restrictions.

The WTO ruled on Thursday on Tokyo’s complaint against Seoul filed in 2015, concluding that South Korea’s restrictions were inconsistent with the rules of the global trade watchdog.

“Japan welcomes the WTO’s panel report, which reflected our position,” top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters. “We request South Korea to correct swiftly and with sincerity its import restriction measures that were recognised as violating the WTO rules.”

He said the government would work to reverse similar import restrictions in other countries after the nuclear disaster.

Japan took its food row with Seoul to the WTO in May 2015 and requested consultations, in the first step under the global body’s dispute settlement system.