AKIPRESS.COM - The coronavirus outbreak has ignited a diplomatic row between Japan and South Korea, after Tokyo said it would quarantine all passengers arriving from the country, which has the highest number of Covid-19 cases outside China, The Guardian reports.

In response, the government in Seoul on Friday called the move “unreasonable, excessive and extremely regrettable”, threatening retaliatory measures and accusing Japan of not dealing with its own outbreak properly.

From Saturday, anyone arriving in Japan from South Korea will be placed in two weeks’ quarantine at government-designated sites, the prime minister, Shinzo Abe said on Thursday, amid criticism of his handling of the outbreak just months before the country is due to host the Olympics.

“It is extremely regrettable Japan took this unreasonable and excessive step without sufficient prior consultation with us, and we strongly urge immediate reconsideration,” the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement. Seoul said it would summon Japan’s ambassador to explain the measure, hinting that Tokyo had been motivated by politics rather than a desire to contain the spread of the respiratory illness.