Japan regrets S. Korea’s appeal against WTO ruling

April 10, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese fisheries minister Ken Saito expressed regret on Tuesday over South Korea's filing of an appeal against a World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel ruling in favor of Tokyo over Seoul's import ban on Japanese fishery products.

The appeal was "extremely regrettable," Saito told a press conference.

He then said Japan will properly address the matter so that its claims will be accepted by the WTO's appellate body.

In addition, Tokyo will urge Seoul to swiftly lift its import ban, Saito said.

After the March 2011 nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s <9501> Fukushima No. 1 plant, South Korea banned imports of fishery products from eight Japanese prefectures--Aomori, Iwate, Fukushima, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba.

Japan brought the case to the WTO in 2015 and the world trade watchdog's dispute settlement panel urged South Korea in February this year to correct the measure. Jiji Press