Foreign Minister Murray McCully called in Japan's Ambassador to express New Zealand's unhappiness after a vessel in Japan's whaling fleet entered the exclusive economic zone last week.
Mr McCully said the ambassador met a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs official at the Mfat offices today who voiced the "deep disappointment'' of New Zealand.
"The New Zealand embassy in Tokyo last week made it very clear we did not want members of the Japanese whaling fleet entering our EEZ. When those wishes were ignored on Friday, I instructed the ministry to call in the most senior representative present at the Japanese embassy in Wellington - the Deputy Head of Mission,'' Mr McCully said.
He said the meeting was to reinforce how "deeply disrespectful'' the vessel's entry into the EEZ was.
"New Zealand's strong opposition to Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean is well known and further action may be taken.''
