TOKYO -- The Japanese government is preparing to take South Korea to the World Trade Organization over what it considers unfair shipbuilding subsidies, putting yet more strain on a relationship already troubled by Seoul's recent Supreme Court ruling regarding wartime laborers.
As a preliminary step, Tokyo announced on Nov. 6 that it has asked Seoul to launch bilateral talks over its subsidies to a struggling shipbuilder. With the talks expected to fail, the dispute is almost certain to reach the WTO.
