MATSUE -- The Hamada branch of the Matsue District Court in Shimane Prefecture dismissed an indictment Friday against the captain of a South Korean fishing boat seized in June on charges of operating in Japan's territorial waters.
The boat was discovered fishing in waters off Hamada claimed under revisions to the Japanese Territorial Sea Law.
Presiding Judge Yasuhiro Hasegawa ruled that Japanese authorities cannot act against a South Korean fishing boat if it operates outside the 12-nautical mile exclusive fishing zone provided for under the Japan-South Korea fishery pact.