Brussels, 22/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - After a series of painstaking but failed attempts to find a bilateral settlement, the EU has taken its dispute with South Korean shipyards to the WTO in Geneva, and South Korea is expected to follow suit. On Tuesday, Pascal Lamy said that lack of progress in bilateral negotiations left them with no option but to launch an appeal at the WTO. He called on Seoul to rapidly settle the case through consultation (there will not be 60 days of consultation). The WTO dispute settlement process has been launched with a requesting for consultations, in which the EU will argue that the "unfair" practices of South Korean shipyards, such as the subsidies they receive, have damaged its own industry and therefore violated the WTO anti-subsidy rules. Seoul responded to the European Commission's press release in a press release from the South Korean trade ministry by announcing it would be appealing against EU aid which is about to be reactivated (but in a temporary and much more targeted manner than was the case before they were suspended in 2000). The EU will be using this internal support measure as from Thursday, the date of its publication in the Official Journal.