Fisheries minister Cho Seung-hwan said an all-out ban on Japanese seafood imports would be excessive despite the ongoing discharge of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

At a parliamentary audit on Thursday, Cho said such a ban would be extreme considering the fact that South Korea maintains a surplus in seafood exports to Japan, sending about four times the amount coming in.

He added that the overall ban could spark a bilateral dispute at the World Trade Organization.

The remarks come as China enforced an all-out ban against Japanese seafood imports since the Fukushima water release began in August, going further than South Korea’s ban on imports from Fukushima and seven other prefectures that was enacted in September 2013.

Rival political parties also clashed over imports of processed seafood products from Fukushima and the seven prefectures, with the minister saying that it is practically impossible to stop their entry, as is the case around the world.

He added that the government conducts testing for nuclides in processed seafood products from the regions in question, and maritime radiation monitoring for the discharge will be expanded from the current 200 to 243 points in the sea from next year.