PERTH, Australia: Japan's foreign minister yesterday described Australia's threat of legal action against its controversial whaling activities as "unfortunate" but said he did not believe it would hurt ties.

"It's very unfortunate the Australian side has indicated it will take action in an international court," Katsuya Okada told reporters on the second and final day of a visit to Australia.

Okada, the first official from the new Japanese government to visit Australia, said however that the dispute should not affect relations between the two major trading partners.