Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr says he is confident South Korea's assurances that they will not proceed with a "scientific" whaling programme have been made in good faith.
South Korea announced at an International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Panama last week that it planned to follow Japan's lead and use a loophole in the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling to proceed with a scientific research programme.
But Senator Carr said he had been assured by his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-Hwan that Seoul had decided against going ahead with programme.
Speaking on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit of foreign ministers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Senator Carr said he had every confidence South Korea would honour the commitment made to him in talks held on Thursday.
"I said that Australia was concerned about whaling, consistently opposed to whaling," Senator Carr told AAP in Phnom Penh on Thursday afternoon.
"He instantly said that they would take the advice of the International Whaling Commission, that the views expressed by their people in Panama weren't those of the government as a whole."
"I think the government of South Korea has spoken here," he said.
Senator Carr said South Korea deserved praise for its response to the concerns raised by a number of countries, as well as animal rights groups.
"I think it's an enlightened and courageous decision and confirms South Korea's aspirations to be a leader on the environment," he said.
The announcement last week prompted a swift rebuke from animal rights groups such as Greenpeace, as well as from the governments of Australia, the United States and New Zealand.
Greenpeace said it was delighted South Korea had "seen sense".
"Australians were rightly outraged about the South Korean plan and the Australian government deserves a pat on the back for reacting fast and bringing pressure to bear," Greenpeace oceans campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said.
Three other countries continue to kill whales, including Norway and Iceland which have rejected the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling, and Japan which uses a loophole to conduct so-called "scientific" whaling.
Australia has previously taken Japan to the International Court of Justice over its whaling program.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said she hoped Senator Carr got South Korea's permission to release the information.
"It would have been preferable to hear this announcement from the South Korean government," she told Sky News.
"And until such time as South Korea does make a formal announcement we will remain concerned."
