South Korea and Japan are moving to repair their strained relations on the back of the new momentum forged by their leaders, who this week called for efforts to build a future-oriented partnership beyond historical disputes. The two countries have yet to do much more to realize the hopes expressed by President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at events held separately in Seoul and Tokyo to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties.

Above all, they should settle the thorniest issue of Tokyo’s legal responsibility for the sexual enslavement of Korean women for imperial Japanese soldiers during World War II, when the peninsula was under Japan’s harsh colonial rule. Both sides also need to find a wise solution to the discord over Japan’s push to win World Heritage status for industrial facilities linked to wartime slave labor forced on about 60,000 Koreans.

The content of a statement Abe plans to issue in August on the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the war is expected to hold the key to whether the first summit between him and Park will be held in the near future.

True, Tokyo is now required to respond more sincerely to Seoul’s shift to a two-track approach to separate historical disputes from security and economic cooperation between the two sides.

For its part, however, South Korea needs to be more objective and proactive on some practical issues with Japan. This attitude will add weight to Seoul’s call on Tokyo to face up to its past wrongdoings and take responsibility for them in tune with conscientious voices at home and abroad.

In this regard, it is undesirable for South Korea to be dragging its feet on deciding whether and when to lift the ban on importing fishery products from eight Japanese prefectures near Fukushima.

Tokyo took the matter to the World Trade Organization last month. The measure may not be in step with efforts toward improving bilateral ties between South Korea and Japan. But it is not wrong to say Seoul’s unreasonable delay in responding to Tokyo’s request to lift the ban had invited the action.

In September 2013, South Korea banned imports of fishery products from eight Japanese prefectures in addition to those from tsunami-devastated Fukushima. It has adhered to the measure, which Tokyo described as excessive, without suggesting any scientific grounds despite on-site research last September.

Seoul needs to handle the issue from a strictly scientific viewpoint and avoid being swayed by vague public fears of possible radioactive contamination.

South Korea is now obliged to prove objective and scientific grounds for its measure to expand the ban on imports of Japanese fishery products during the WTO dispute settlement process that started Wednesday. It might have been better for it to take proper steps before Japan decided to raise the issue at the multilateral trade mechanism.

South Korean officials seem to be playing for time in dealing with the dispute, which they say will take up to eight years to resolve. This stance is far from reasonable and will do no good to helping the two countries move forward to deepen their partnership.

Both the Korean government and public should let science have a final say in settling the discord over the safety of fisheries products. Otherwise, what would be perceived as their unscientific approach might result in weakening Seoul’s position on more important and fundamental issues with Japan.