The World Trade Organization(WTO) has upheld South Korea's import ban on Japanese seafood affected by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The WTO appellate body on Thursday overturned the 2018 decision by a lower panel, saying Seoul's measures are not unfair trade restrictions and do not fall into the category of arbitrary discrimination. It's rare for the appellate body to reverse the lower panel's decision. 

South Korea banned seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima and Iwate, after the March 2011 disaster over radiation concerns. Other Japanese food products were put under restrictions, such as tougher testing requirements.

With the ruling, Seoul is expected to maintain the current restrictions.

The appellate body, however, sided with Japan on one point, saying that Seoul has not provided enough information to Tokyo in terms of the import ban measures.