A Busan court has dismissed a suit filed by the city's residents and environmental groups seeking to stop Japan's planned release of Fukushima wastewater into the ocean.

On Thursday, the Busan District Court dismissed the plaintiffs' suit against the Tokyo Electric Power Company(TEPCO), the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, saying the case is considered unsuitable.

Referring to the London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter as well as the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties that were both cited by the plaintiffs, the court said citizens of one country have no right to stop the actions of those in another.

As for the cited Article 217 of the civil law, the court said international trial jurisdiction would be difficult to recognize.

Legal counsel for an alliance of 166 civic groups, who filed the suit in April 2021, criticized the court for accepting TEPCO's arguments and added that they planned to appeal.